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Warnings on Return of Assassinations to Lebanon over Aleppo Developments | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Civil Defense members work at a site of an explosion in Beirut in 2014. Photo: Reuters


Beirut- More than one political party has expressed fear over the return of the series of bombings, mainly assassinations, which have targeted Lebanon in the past.

A March 14 coalition lawmaker told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that he has been warned by a top security official to “be cautious.”

The official also told the MP that “he prefers he stays abroad if his circumstances allow him to do so.”

His warning came amid reports that security breaches, mainly political assassinations, would return to Lebanon as a result of the recent developments in Syria’s Aleppo and before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump assumes his mission.

The lawmaker told Asharq Al-Awsat that he has taken the security official’s warning seriously.

According to the MP, who was not identified, he and his bloc’s head “have a bitter experience in this regard, in particular with the Syrian regime which takes advantage of regional and international circumstances to reach the person it wants to execute.”

“This happened when Kamal Jumblat was assassinated in 1977 after Syria entered Lebanon,” said the lawmaker.

“The situation looks like a football match. Any goal in the last minutes would end the game,” he said.

“A lot of politicians are now using armored cars,” he added.

The reports on the possible return of assassinations come amid a political and security stability following the election of President Michel Aoun and the appointment of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to form the new government.

The lawmaker admitted that there has been more optimism in Lebanon’s political scene, but said: “We are facing the biggest tragedy in the Arab world after the massacres committed by Israel in occupied Palestinian territories and Sabra and Shatila.”

He was referring to the developments in Aleppo.

“Consequently, the repercussions of the feeling of victory of the Syrian regime and its allies began appearing in Lebanon when Syria’s Mufti Ahmed Badreddine Hassoun visited the country” last week, said the lawmaker.

The visit aimed at creating political differences among the Lebanese, he added.