Loveless letters
While authorities managed to foil an attack on the US Embassy in Beirut, letter bombs originating in Lebanon managed to reach Kuwaiti officials, reports Mohalhel Fakih
Investigations into a plot to bomb the Embassy of the United States in Lebanon have been stepped up following Friday's arrest of a Lebanese man whom the authorities suspect of ordering an attack on the facility. Lebanese Internal Security Forces are also hoping to capture a man in Beirut who sent four booby- trapped letters to journalists and a writer in Kuwait.
No evidence has so far emerged to shed light on the motives behind the attempted attack on the US diplomatic mission, or whether it was linked to international terrorist groups. However, sources close to the investigation said the man suspected of ordering the failed strike, identified by media outlets as Mahdi Hajj Hasan, claimed he was acting alone. Two other men, a Palestinian cab driver and a Lebanese national, were arrested on Wednesday while attempting to carry out the bombing. According to official sources, while in police custody these men identified Hasan as the mastermind behind the attempted attack. The men -- identified as Abdel-Karim Mraichi from Lebanon and Palestinian Ibrahim Serhan -- were arrested while trying to gain access to the heavily fortified embassy grounds in Awkar, near Beirut, hiding a one-kilogramme bomb in a small bag.
The timing of the attempted strike has raised some eyebrows, coming as it does around the time when verdicts are due to be delivered in the trial of 31 Lebanese and Palestinians suspected of participating in a number of attacks on US fast-food chains across Lebanon during the war on Iraq. The suspects are believed to have ties with the Al-Qae'da terrorist network. A court indictment identified Ibn Al-Shaheed, a Yemeni national, as head of the cell, which is also linked to the outlawed militant group Osbat Al-Ansar.
Washington had warned Americans living in Lebanon about anti-US sentiment in the region, cautioning them to maintain a low profile. Earlier this year, Lebanese police foiled a plan to assassinate US Ambassador Vincent Battle and managed to prevent an attack on the US Embassy. The spectre of anti- American violence -- which disappeared in the wake of the 1975-1990 civil war -- returned to the country as a result of heightened Middle East tensions over the Palestinian Intifada, the US-led war on Iraq and mounting US pressure on Syria
Lebanon's strong ties with an ally in the Gulf were also put to the test after four letter bombs were sent to Kuwait from an unknown person in Beirut. Three of the letters were sent to the Qabas and Al-Siyassah Kuwaiti dailies, and the fourth was mailed to the Kuwaiti League of Writers.
"The letters containing explosive material came from the same source in Lebanon which sent the letter to the editor of Al-Siyassah newspaper," said Hamed Khaja, undersecretary at the Kuwait Ministry for Communications.
One of the letters was addressed to Al- Siyassah's highly critical editor Ahmad Al- Jarallah, and exploded in the face of his secretary, Waleed Dahdouh, on Thursday. Dahdouh sustained minor injuries. The name of the sender on the envelope was Ghassan Charbel, deputy editor of Al-Hayat, who strongly denied involvement and condemned the attack. He was unable to explain why his name may have been used on the letter bomb.
Investigators in Beirut have reason to believe they are following a strong lead, with Internal Security Forces going so far as to provide a sketch of the perpetrator, who is said to be about 40 years old. According to press reports in Beirut, the perpetrator was dark- skinned and spoke with a Gulf-Arab accent, raising speculation that the incident may be tied in with the current Middle East situation.
Both letters were posted from the Corniche Al-Mazraa branch of Liban Poste in Beirut, where employees stated that all four letters had been posted by the same person. Two workers at Liban Poste have been taken into custody for questioning.
Lebanese Information Minister Michel Smaha strongly denounced the incident and questioned why Kuwait should be targetted. He also stressed that Lebanon was among the "most secure countries in the region and the world".
Lebanon had only recently patched up traditionally strong and friendly ties with Kuwait, which had been strained by Beirut's opposition to the war on Iraq and the criticism by a number of Lebanese officials of Gulf states which hosted American military forces. The booby-trapped letters are not expected to disturb Lebanese-Kuwaiti relations, but have rattled Lebanese who do not want their country to be a stage for playing out Middle East rivalries.
In a separate development, Lebanon's Sžreté Générale, the government agency which deals with foreigners, on Monday denied reports that the wife of captured former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had been living in Lebanon under the name of "Hadija", and had been given a Lebanese passport.
The Sunday Times said over the weekend that Saddam had been in touch with his second wife and only surviving son, who are allegedly living in Lebanon. The paper claimed that the woman, identified as Samira Shahbandar, stated in an interview that her husband called and wrote at least once a week. The report claimed she was given permission to live in France and that she would travel to Paris in January.
