Four held after attacks on US, British targets

Security forces seized guns and explosives and arrested four men suspected of involvement in attacks on American and British targets in Lebanon, officials in Beirut said today.

The arrests brought to 22 the number held for alleged roles in the April 5 bombing of a McDonald’s restaurant in Beirut and other similar attacks, the officials said.

The four were arrested at home by security forces during a dawn raid in the northern city of Tripoli.

“A large quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives ready to be detonated were seized from the house,” the officials said.

The arrested men were allegedly were part of a group that prosecutor general Adnan Addoum claimed was planning more attacks on American business interests in Lebanon, including the heavily fortified US Embassy.

Group members, some of whom belonged to a group of Islamic extremists, confessed while in custody “that they wanted to strike all American interests in Lebanon,” he said in a statement in An-Nahar newspaper.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Elias Murr said five Lebanese men in custody had confessed to setting off the bomb at a McDonald’s restaurant, injuring five people, and to targeting other US and British symbols in Lebanon.

He said they were apparently preparing to attack foreign embassies and other targets.

Anti-war protests had been held outside the US and British embassies in Beirut even before the war on Iraq began March 20.