Tag Archives: lebanon

Sectarian tensions escalated further between Sunnis and Shiites as kidnappings continued. The US and Turkey joined Gulf states in urging their citizens to stay away from the country.

Syrian tensions erupted in Lebanon. A Lebanese Shia group kidnapped more than 20 Sunnis in Beirut in retaliation for the kidnapping of one of its members by the Free Syrian Army in Syria. Gulf states urged citizens to leave Lebanon as kidnappings and violence between Shia and Sunnis spread across the country.

Lebanese officials said they had uncovered a Syrian plot to bomb political and religious leaders in order to incite sectarian violence. Indictments were issued against two Syrian officers.

A new computer virus targeting Lebanese banks to gather financial information on Hezbollah, Syria, or Lebanon was detected. Lebanon arrested a former minister and close ally of Syrian President Assad for helping to plan bomb attacks against Sunnis. Amid the rising tensions, Sunni Syrian workers fled Shiite neighborhoods.

As sectarian fighting from Syria spilled into Lebanon, the Lebanese army sent troops and armored vehicles to the city of Tripoli. The Lebanese prime minister instructed security forces to use an “iron fist” to quell the violence there.

Fighting erupted between pro and anti Syrian factions in the northern city of Tripoli. Seven people were killed and 22 wounded.

The commander of UNIFIL warned that five al Qaeda operatives living in Palestinian refugee camps are plotting to kill Lebanese Prime Minister Nabih Berri. Other politicians and leaders are said to be marked for assassination.