February 13, 2007 Bikfaya bombings
Encyclopedia
The February 13, 2007 Lebanon bombings were two blasts on buses near Bikfaya
, Lebanon
which killed three and injured 21. The bombings heightened tensions in the country following the Cedar Revolution
, and on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the assassination of Rafik Hariri
.
to the Lebanese mountain village of Ain Alaq. A second bus following behind stopped, and then a bomb on that bus exploded. Killed were Michel Attar (born 1989), Laurice Gemayel, and Mahmoud Hammoud, an Egyptian laborer. A further 21 other people were injured.
The two bombings occurred on the eve of a Cedar Revolution
rally planned to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the assassination
of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri
. The bombing occurred less than a mile from the Christian village of Bikfaya
, the hometown of the former president, Amin Gemayel, whose son Pierre Gemayel
, a cabinet minister and member of the anti-Syrian, March 14 Alliance
, was assassinated by gunmen in November. Amin Gemayel, also a member of the March 14 Alliance
, had just returned from the United States where he met with president George W. Bush
in the White House
on February 08, 2007. In addition to scaring the Lebanese from attending the Cedar Revolution
the following day, many analyst also saw the bombings in Gemayel's stronghold of Metn as a Syrian warning to Gemayel who was a possible candidate for the Lebanese presidency. The bombings did not deter hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Lebanese, Christians, Muslims, and Druze, to gather in Martyr’s Square in Beirut on February 14 to honor Hariri and show support for the anti-Syrian, pro-western government of Fouad Saniora.
, which allegedly has close ties to the Syrian intelligence agency. However, it was still not clear who actually ordered the attack. Syria denied the Lebanese allegations.
On June 21, 2007, Lebanese State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza filed charges against 16 Fatah al-Islam
suspects accused of carrying out the bombings. Nine of the 16 suspects accused were in custody when the charges were filed; other, including Fatah al-Islam
head Shaker al-Abssi
were still being sought. The defendants include 10 Syrians, two Lebanese, three Palestinians (including one woman) and one Saudi national.
Bikfaya
Bikfaya is a town in the Matn District region of Mount Lebanon. Its stone houses with red-tiled roofs resting amidst pine and oak forests make Bikfaya one of the most sought-after suburbs of Beirut and one of Lebanon's most popular summer resorts.-Culture:...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
which killed three and injured 21. The bombings heightened tensions in the country following the Cedar Revolution
Cedar Revolution
The Cedar Revolution or Independence Intifada was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.The primary goals of the original activists were the...
, and on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the assassination of Rafik Hariri
Rafik Hariri
Rafic Baha El Deen Al-Hariri , was a business tycoon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation, 20 October 2004.He headed five cabinets during his tenure...
.
The bombings
On Tuesday, February 13, 2007, a bomb exploded on a bus transporting 26 people from BteghrineBteghrine
Bteghrine is a municipality in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon.- Etymology :The exact origin of the name Bteghrine is unknown, but possibilities include Place of Warriors, Place of Rocks, and House of the Saddest - references to a large battle in the area around 1290...
to the Lebanese mountain village of Ain Alaq. A second bus following behind stopped, and then a bomb on that bus exploded. Killed were Michel Attar (born 1989), Laurice Gemayel, and Mahmoud Hammoud, an Egyptian laborer. A further 21 other people were injured.
The two bombings occurred on the eve of a Cedar Revolution
Cedar Revolution
The Cedar Revolution or Independence Intifada was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.The primary goals of the original activists were the...
rally planned to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri
Rafik Hariri
Rafic Baha El Deen Al-Hariri , was a business tycoon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation, 20 October 2004.He headed five cabinets during his tenure...
. The bombing occurred less than a mile from the Christian village of Bikfaya
Bikfaya
Bikfaya is a town in the Matn District region of Mount Lebanon. Its stone houses with red-tiled roofs resting amidst pine and oak forests make Bikfaya one of the most sought-after suburbs of Beirut and one of Lebanon's most popular summer resorts.-Culture:...
, the hometown of the former president, Amin Gemayel, whose son Pierre Gemayel
Pierre Amine Gemayel
Pierre Amine Gemayel was a Lebanese politician in the Kataeb Party, better known in English as the Phalange Party. Lebanon's second-youngest MP, he was a rising star in his party...
, a cabinet minister and member of the anti-Syrian, March 14 Alliance
March 14 Alliance
The March 14 alliance , named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon that call for sovereignty over all Lebanese territories, led by MP Saad Hariri, younger son of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon, as...
, was assassinated by gunmen in November. Amin Gemayel, also a member of the March 14 Alliance
March 14 Alliance
The March 14 alliance , named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon that call for sovereignty over all Lebanese territories, led by MP Saad Hariri, younger son of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon, as...
, had just returned from the United States where he met with president George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
on February 08, 2007. In addition to scaring the Lebanese from attending the Cedar Revolution
Cedar Revolution
The Cedar Revolution or Independence Intifada was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.The primary goals of the original activists were the...
the following day, many analyst also saw the bombings in Gemayel's stronghold of Metn as a Syrian warning to Gemayel who was a possible candidate for the Lebanese presidency. The bombings did not deter hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Lebanese, Christians, Muslims, and Druze, to gather in Martyr’s Square in Beirut on February 14 to honor Hariri and show support for the anti-Syrian, pro-western government of Fouad Saniora.
Reactions
- Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
condemned the bombings and accused the perpetrators of the attacks of "showing complete disregard for the most fundamental principles of humanity." - EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
condemened the bombings. - FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
condemened the bombings. - GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
condemened the bombings. - Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
condemened the bombings. - IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
condemned the killing, calling it an act of terror that would hinder political reconciliation among the Lebanese. - Prime Minister Fouad SinioraFouad SinioraFuad Siniora is a Lebanese politician, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon, a position he held from 19 July 2005 to May 25, 2008 the date of the election of the new President of Lebanon; he was renominated to the post on 28 May 2008 and held the post as Acting President between those...
promised to pursue the criminals who murdered Attar, Gemayel and Hammoud. He believed that the terrorists were the same forces who assassinated Hariri in 2005. He said that the Lebanese will not be "scared or terrorized" and the terrorists will be brought to justice. - The leaders of the March 14 AllianceMarch 14 AllianceThe March 14 alliance , named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon that call for sovereignty over all Lebanese territories, led by MP Saad Hariri, younger son of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon, as...
accused the Syrian regime of committing the bombings in Ain Alaq to deter the Lebanese from participating in the rally honoring the second anniversary of Hariri's assassination. - The state-controlled media in SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
accused the March 14 AllianceMarch 14 AllianceThe March 14 alliance , named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon that call for sovereignty over all Lebanese territories, led by MP Saad Hariri, younger son of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon, as...
and the anti-Syrian parliament majority of being behind the two bombings. - On February 15, 2007, The U.N. condemned the two bombings, and the Security Council agreed to provide Lebanon with technical assistance to help probe the bombing that killed Michel Attar, Laurice Gemayel and Mahmoud Hammoud.
Arrests and Criminal Charges
On March 14, 2007, Lebanese Internal Security, better known as the Sûreté Générale du Liban, arrested four Syrians who confessed to the bombings in Ain Alaq. The Lebanese Interior Minister, Hassan Al Sabaa, believed that the four Syrians were members of a radical Palestinian group, Fatah al-IslamFatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam, is a radical Sunni Islamist group that formed in November 2006 in a Palestinian refugee camp, located in Lebanon. It has been described as a militant jihadist movement that draws inspiration from al-Qaeda...
, which allegedly has close ties to the Syrian intelligence agency. However, it was still not clear who actually ordered the attack. Syria denied the Lebanese allegations.
On June 21, 2007, Lebanese State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza filed charges against 16 Fatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam, is a radical Sunni Islamist group that formed in November 2006 in a Palestinian refugee camp, located in Lebanon. It has been described as a militant jihadist movement that draws inspiration from al-Qaeda...
suspects accused of carrying out the bombings. Nine of the 16 suspects accused were in custody when the charges were filed; other, including Fatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam, is a radical Sunni Islamist group that formed in November 2006 in a Palestinian refugee camp, located in Lebanon. It has been described as a militant jihadist movement that draws inspiration from al-Qaeda...
head Shaker al-Abssi
Shaker al-Abssi
Shaker al-Abssi was a veteran Palestinian guerrilla and Fatah al-Islam's leader. On 10 December, 2008 Fatah al-Islam announced that al-Abssi was believed to have been killed or arrested in ambush by Syrian security forces.- Biography :...
were still being sought. The defendants include 10 Syrians, two Lebanese, three Palestinians (including one woman) and one Saudi national.
External links
- Fatah al-Islam background and information