Al Qaeda's franchisees have been busy this week. First, the Algerian bombings yesterday and now, one of Lebanon's top generals, who more than likely would have taken over leadership of Lebanon's military this year, was killed in a jihadist car bomb attack. My guess is this was the al Qaeda linked Sunnis dirtywork.
Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj certainly was a target. He had led the military surge to take out the al Qaeda linked Sunni jihadists in Lebanon last summer. But whenever a high level individual in Lebanon is exterminated, you can't look past Syrian participation or influence.
Full details of this assasination here.
Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj certainly was a target. He had led the military surge to take out the al Qaeda linked Sunni jihadists in Lebanon last summer. But whenever a high level individual in Lebanon is exterminated, you can't look past Syrian participation or influence.
Full details of this assasination here.
Dec 12, 7:36 AM EST
Car Bomb Kills General in Lebanon
By SAM F. GHATTAS Associated Press Writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- A car bomb attack killed one of Lebanon's top generals and at least two other people Wednesday, the military and state media said, putting even more pressure on the country's delicate political situation.
The target of the attack, Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj, a top Maronite Catholic in the command, was considered a leading candidate to succeed the head of the military, Gen. Michel Suleiman, if Suleiman is elected president.
Hajj, 55, also led a major military campaign against Islamic militants over the summer.
Anti-Syrian politicians blamed Damascus, as they have for a string of bombings over the past two years that killed eight prominent opponents of Syria. Damascus has denied any role in those killings.
Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, speaking to AP Television News, accused the "Syrian-Iranian axis" of hitting the military, "the only body in Lebanon who can balance the power of Hezbollah and other militias in the country."
But the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah, which has good relations with the army, denounced the assassination. It called Hajj's death a "great national loss" and praised the military's "great national role" in preserving security.
France, Lebanon's former ruler which has been mediating the political crisis, denounced the attack, as did the European Union
Suspicion also fell on al-Qaida-inspired Sunni Muslim militants, whom the army crushed at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in northern Lebanon in an operation led by Hajj, a battle that cost hundreds of lives.
Hikmat Deeb, a leading member of Aoun's opposition Free Patriotic Movement, said Hajj was "a hero of Nahr el-Bared," suggesting the battle there was a factor in the assassination.
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