Last update - 07:30 25/01/2002
Anti-Syria Lebanese group says it killed former militia leader
By Daniel Sobelman, Ha'aretz Correspondent and Agencies
Former Lebanese Christian militia leader Elie Hobeika was killed in an explosion Thursday in Beirut.
(Photo: Reuters)
An elderly woman is evacuated by civil defence rescue personnel following the blast.
(Photo: Reuters)
A leaflet issued in the name of an anti-Syrian Lebanese group claimed responsibility for the death Thursday morning of Elie Hobeika, a former Lebanese minister and leader of the Israeli-backed militia involved in the 1982 Sabra and Chatila massacre of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
The statement said that the former warlord had betrayed his country and was a Syrian agent. Hobeika was killed when a bomb in a car detonated next to his jeep as he was about to drive away from his home.
The claim, made in a statement in Arabic by a group calling itself the "Lebanese For a Free and Independent Lebanon," was faxed to Reuters in Cyprus. It was not immediately possible to verify the claim and there were no statements issued by known anti-Syrian Lebanese groups.
"One of our units carried out the death sentence this morning against the Syrian agent Elie Hobeika who has sold out Lebanon and the Lebanese and became an effective tool in the hands of Syria's Lebanon's 'governor' Ghazi Kenaan," said the statement signed by the group.
Ghazi Kenaan is the head of Syria's military intelligence in Lebanon, where Damascus has an estimated 20,000 troops as well as effective political and military control in Lebanon.
The group said the assassination was a message to Syria to get out of Lebanon. It warned that Syrian President Bashar Assad would face the same fate if "he set foot in Lebanon before removing all of his troops."
Lebanese security officials said Hobeika had just entered his luxury sport utility vehicle and three bodyguards already were inside when the explosion occurred at 9:40 A.M.
Chief Military Magistrate Nasri Lahoud said four people were killed, including three of Hobeika's bodyguards, and six were wounded when a German-made Mercedes 280 car was blown up by remote control as Hobeika's vehicle passed by.
Lebanese and Palestinian officials had accused Israel of the killing. Lahoud, while touring the site of the explosion, said that the act could have been masterminded by "the Israelis."
A personal representative in southern Lebanon of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Sultan Abu al Anian, said "Hobeika's assassination was plotted and carried out by the Israelis."
Sources in Jerusalem denied any connection to the explosion, saying the allegations were more libel against Sharon and the State of Israel.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected the allegations, saying that they "aren't even worthy of a response."
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres called the accusations "totally unfounded. We have left Lebanese territory. We don't want to play [a role] there anymore."
President Emile Lahoud, in a statement, claimed Hobeika was killed to keep him from testifying before the possible war crimes trial against Sharon. Lahoud did not say who he believed was behind the killing.
The president said that Lebanon was strong and would not be affected by such crimes.
Hobeika, 45, commanded the Christian Lebanese Forces militia, which carried out the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian refugees at Beirut's Sabra and Chatila refugee camps after Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
The Christian militiamen went into the refugee camps after their leader, President-elect Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated in a bombing at Phalange headquarters initially blamed on the Palestinians.
It turned out that Gemayel was eliminated by the Syrians, who opposed his alliance with the Israel.
Hobeika served in several Cabinets as variously, minister of electricity, refugee resettlement, and the disabled.
A group of Palestinian survivors of the massacres have filed suit in Belgium against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was minister of defense during the invasion of Lebanon.
The complaint filed in June with a Belgian judge demanded that Sharon be indicted for crimes against humanity in accordance with Belgian law that allows for such trials of foreigners in another country. The complaint did not mention Hobeika's role.
Hobeika said in July that he is willing to testify in the lawsuit. Hobeika said he has irrefutable proof of his innocence in the killings.
A Belgian appeals court is expected to rule on March 6 on whether Sharon should stand trial. |
