A Third Car Bomb in Ten Days
Published on internet site: The Belgravia Dispatch
www.belgraviadispatch.com/archives/004452.html - 46k
March 27, 2005
2125 and a heavy boom resounds in the city, another car bomb has gone off in the Christian area of Bouchrieh.
In a rudimentary apartment housing ten Indian workers from Madras, the back windows looking onto the burning buildings have been shattered.
One of the men, a cleaner by profession, has been in the neighborhood for eight years, apparently living in poor conditions. He knows most of the workers around, and to his knowledge he doesn't think there was anyone working in the burning buildings on this Saturday evening in the industrial neighborhood. All the rest of the men in the room are grouped around listening in with alert eyes.
On the street, tension is riding high, there is a scuffle between a civilian youth and the military. After a few punches, the frazzled and angered young man is released. Soldiers are voiciferously telling people to clear the area.
A wide eyed Asian fifty year old man is holding his head lying back in an ambulance while first aid workers wrap his legs with band aids. He is clearly shell shocked.
The worst is over for tonight with but with the count of three Indian workers killed and five other people wounded.
A middle aged man, Carlos Edde, the General Secretary of the National Party, who was on the scene, explains in French in a press gaggle that the Syrians had warned Hariri before his death that daily life would become unstable if opposition to the Syrian presence was pursued. The culprits he had in mind were clear. He reinforced his accusation by explaining that it was no surprise that the bomb took place in an area strongly run by Christians strongly against the Syrians involvement with Lebanon.
This would be a third bomb exploding in the past ten days in another anti-Syrian area. The attack is both an act of intimidation and provocation. Regardless of who is behind the bombing campaign, it is clear it is paving the way to destabilize the country, and have impact on the economic well being of the Christian community. Hopefully the Lebanese will be able to keep there heads down, and take the brunt of the bullying without picking up weapons.
There are plenty of people who have had enough with war. One young teacher, who will remain unnamed, explained that although the had a good job, she was leaving at the end of her contract. When asked why, she said: "I have lived through one war, and I can not go through a second. I don't want to do that to my daughter, so we are leaving." And her family: "I am torn, I have to leave, but my family will be here, and that feels terrible". But what will happen to those who are not able to leave the country? Where will they turn when the attacks begin to take Lebanese lives?
www.belgraviadispatch.com/archives/004452.html - 46k
March 27, 2005
2125 and a heavy boom resounds in the city, another car bomb has gone off in the Christian area of Bouchrieh.
In a rudimentary apartment housing ten Indian workers from Madras, the back windows looking onto the burning buildings have been shattered.
One of the men, a cleaner by profession, has been in the neighborhood for eight years, apparently living in poor conditions. He knows most of the workers around, and to his knowledge he doesn't think there was anyone working in the burning buildings on this Saturday evening in the industrial neighborhood. All the rest of the men in the room are grouped around listening in with alert eyes.
On the street, tension is riding high, there is a scuffle between a civilian youth and the military. After a few punches, the frazzled and angered young man is released. Soldiers are voiciferously telling people to clear the area.
A wide eyed Asian fifty year old man is holding his head lying back in an ambulance while first aid workers wrap his legs with band aids. He is clearly shell shocked.
The worst is over for tonight with but with the count of three Indian workers killed and five other people wounded.
A middle aged man, Carlos Edde, the General Secretary of the National Party, who was on the scene, explains in French in a press gaggle that the Syrians had warned Hariri before his death that daily life would become unstable if opposition to the Syrian presence was pursued. The culprits he had in mind were clear. He reinforced his accusation by explaining that it was no surprise that the bomb took place in an area strongly run by Christians strongly against the Syrians involvement with Lebanon.
This would be a third bomb exploding in the past ten days in another anti-Syrian area. The attack is both an act of intimidation and provocation. Regardless of who is behind the bombing campaign, it is clear it is paving the way to destabilize the country, and have impact on the economic well being of the Christian community. Hopefully the Lebanese will be able to keep there heads down, and take the brunt of the bullying without picking up weapons.
There are plenty of people who have had enough with war. One young teacher, who will remain unnamed, explained that although the had a good job, she was leaving at the end of her contract. When asked why, she said: "I have lived through one war, and I can not go through a second. I don't want to do that to my daughter, so we are leaving." And her family: "I am torn, I have to leave, but my family will be here, and that feels terrible". But what will happen to those who are not able to leave the country? Where will they turn when the attacks begin to take Lebanese lives?
posted by Irina Prentice at 2:21 AM
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