Reports: bomb plot against Maronite Catholic patriarch, other Lebanese leaders thwarted
August 23, 2012
Michel Samaha, Lebanon’s former information minister and an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been arrested on allegations of planning bomb attacks that would have coincided with the visit of Maronite Catholic Patriarch Béchara Boutros Raï to a Sunni Muslim area of Lebanon.
One car bomb was reportedly set to detonate as the patriarch was passing near a Muslim politician’s home. Other political and religious leaders were also to be targeted.
“God protected this region from bombings that were planned by the [powers] of evil,” Patriarch Raï said.
Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Grégoire III Laham initially condemned the “abusive way” in which Samaha, a Catholic layman, “was arrested and the lack of respect for the sanctity of the home and the dignity of the family.”
Asked whether the planned papal visit to Lebanon in September would still take place, Patriarch Raï said, “Of course the visit will go ahead.”
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Further information:
- Foiled Lebanon Bomb Plot Raises Concern Of Spread From Syria (Bloomberg)
- Pope's visit to Lebanon not jeopardized (Aid to the Church in Need)
- Samaha says of bomb plots, ‘This is what Assad wants’: sources (Beirut Daily Star)
- Maronite Patriarch says “God protected Akkar” from bombing campaign (NOW Lebanon)
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