Car bomb explodes in Beirut, adds injured, reax

Описание: (1 Oct 2004) Please Note: This story is on Beta SP tape EF04/0971



1. High angle of smoke billowing from burning car
2. Wide shot of firefighters trying to douse fire
3. Another car burning
4. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Eyewitness, (Name not available):
"We thought aeroplanes had attacked. We rushed here and we saw two people. One was a woman and was taken by a Range Rover car, not an ambulance. There were many people, it was chaos, an unusual situation."
5. Firefighters spraying water at car, pan to smoking wreckage of another vehicle
6. Various of crowd of people around remains of car
7. Wide of firefighters and soldiers at scene
8. Wide shot of scene, body of dead man lying on ground
9. Relative running to hospital
10. Emergency sign
11. Wide shot of politician Walid Junblatt at hospital
12. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Walid Junblatt, Druze leader
"We do not want any aspects of anarchy or turmoil to become common. The law comes first, and Marwan Hamada is okay and this is also his message to everyone."
13. Wide shot of crowd in front of hospital
14. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Atef Majdalani, MP
"This act, I think, aims to disturb the stability and it is an attempt to shake national unity in the country."
15. Wide shot of scene in front of hospital

STORYLINE:

A car bomb exploded in Beirut on Friday, wounding a former Lebanese Cabinet minister opposed to Syria's role in the extension of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's term in office, killing his driver and seriously injuring his bodyguard.

Former Economy Minister Marwan Hamadeh suffered minor injuries to his hands and face in the blast, which occurred in a street near where the American Community School and the International College, both US organisations, are located.

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a 15 kilogram (33 pound) bomb exploded as Hamadeh's car drove past it, injuring him, killing his driver, Ghazi Abu Karoum, and seriously injuring a bodyguard sitting in the back seat, Osama Abdel Samad.

Police sealed off the area as firefighters struggled to extinguish the fire caused by the explosion.

Several parked cars in the area were damaged and broken glass from nearby buildings littered the street.

Forensic experts arrived to examine the blast scene and took pictures of the wreckage of the car that carried the bomb.

Hamadeh's brother, Ali, told The Associated Press that the ex-Cabinet minister was the blast's target.

Ali Hamadeh, a political analyst with Lebanon's leading An-Nahar newspaper, said: "It (the bombing) is a political message to those who are trying to open bridges among (Muslim and Christian) Lebanese and break down barriers."

He was apparently referring to efforts by Walid Jumblatt, the leader of Marwan Hamadeh's parliamentary bloc, who aligned himself with Christian opposition groups to reject the recent Syrian-backed extension of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud's term.

Lebanese officials have not yet commented on the motives behind the explosion.

Jumblatt pulled Hamadeh out of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's Cabinet last month to protest the extension of Lahoud's presidential term, which was backed by neighbouring Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon.

Former warlord and Cabinet minister Jumblatt is an ally of Syria, but his relations with Damascus deteriorated after he withdrew Hamadeh and two other ministers from the Cabinet.

After visiting Hamadeh at Beirut's American University Hospital, Jumblatt told reporters that the bombing targeted "national peace and internal stability in Lebanon" and urged Lebanese to maintain "national peace."


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