Army chief among four killed in Lebanon blast

Four people, including a top military general, were killed and several others injured when a large explosion rocked a Christian suburb east of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, early today, the state-run news agency said.

The agency said Brigadier General Francois Hajj, head of military operations in the army command, was killed in the blast, along with his bodyguard. His name had been mentioned as a strong candidate to succeed army commander Michel Suleiman, if he is elected president.

The army command issued a terse statement confirming that Brig Gen Hajj was one of the victims.

“This morning, the criminal hand targeted head of army operations Brig Gen Francois Hajj with a bomb as he drove in his car opposite Baabda Municipality, which led to his death along with a number of soldiers, and wounded others,” said the statement.

“The army sealed off the area and has started investigating,” it added.

The explosion occurred at 7.10am (5.10am Irish time) in a busy street near Baabda Municipality as school buses were running and people were setting off for work.

Security officials said Brig Gen Hajj, who lived in the area, had left his home a few minutes earlier, probably heading to the nearby Defence Ministry, when the blast detonated near his car, killing him and his bodyguard immediately. It was not immediately clear whether the bomb was packed inside a car or placed on the road itself, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with military rules.

The blast wrecked cars and caused heavy damage in the area, which also houses foreign embassies.

The attack comes as Lebanon is embroiled in its worst political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war and amid heightened tensions between pro-government and opposition groups. The country has been without a president since November 23 when Emile Lahoud left office and a deadlocked parliament failed to elect a successor.

This the first time the military has been targeted in a bombing in recent months. The military had so far managed to keep the peace amid the serious political crisis.

The army also crushed Islamic militants in three months of summer fighting in a northern Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared which left hundreds dead. Brig Gen Hajj headed the grounded operations at the camp, which ended in September with the army defeating the Fatah Islam militants.

The bombing came as pro- and anti-government groups were locked in dispute over how to elect the army commander, General Michel Suleiman, as compromise candidate to fill the vacant president’s post.

Red Cross rescuers reported two dead and seven wounded who were taken to area hospitals. Others were being treated on the spot and rescuers were searching in wrecked vehicles for more casualties, said George Kettaneh, of the rescue service at the Lebanese Red Cross.

He spoke on Lebanese Broadcasting Corp TV, which earlier reported four dead and dozens wounded in the explosion.

Two bodies were thrown about 15 yards by the force of the explosion. Troops sealed off the area as firefighters tried to put out the flames in at least two cars. The road was blackened with the soot as dark smoke covered the area.

A small stun grenade exploded on the edge of the Lebanese capital late last night, causing no casualties or damage.

Lebanese security officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least two cars were set on fire and several others were damaged in the bombing outside the municipality building in the town of Baabda.

The wooded, hilly Baabda is the historic capital of Mount Lebanon province, and seat of the presidential palace, which is on a nearby hill. The Defence Ministry and the army command are located in the adjacent town of Yarze.

The explosion was heard by residents on the edge of the Lebanese capital. The area nearby is usually packed later in the morning with civil servants going to work at the provincial government house.

The last major explosion on September 19 killed anti-Syrian lawmaker Antoine Ghanem in a Beirut street, an attack blamed by his supporters on the government coalition on Syria. Syria denied involvement.

The blast came two years to the day since a car bombing which killed prominent journalist Gebran Tueni in an attack his supporters had blamed on Syria.

Lebanon has been rocked by a series of explosion since a massive truck bombing killed former Premier Rafik Hariri in 2005 in central Beirut.