BEIRUT: Samir Geagea had escaped
an assassination attempt when shots were fired at his residence and warned that
political assassinations of the last decade had not ended.
“It appears that the shooting on
Maarab was by a sniper and that more than one individual may have been
involved. This time, I say in all honesty, it was not a message: they wanted to
end it all,” the Lebanese Forces leader said at a news conference at his
residence, hours after an LF statement reported a shooting at the complex in
Kesrouan, which also serves as the party’s headquarters.
The LF leader said the operation,
had required expertise, claiming the shots had been fired several kilometers
from the target site.
“Someone was monitoring for over
24 hours [the site] and gave the signal to carry out the operation. For this
reason I say one of them was a professional,” he told reporters.
“Maraab’s security was not
compromised but a professional is behind the operation and he pulled it off
from between 4 to 5 kilometers away,” he added.
In its statement earlier in the
day, the LF said security at the facility responded immediately after the shots
were fired at 11:33 a.m. and located the site where the shots had been fired,
citing the discovery of casings, which Geagea said indicated the bullets fired
ranged between 12.7 and 14.5 calibers.
Geageas’ allies, including former
Prime Minister Saad Hariri, denounced the attack.
“The attempted assassination of
Dr. [Geagea], which comes as part of a long series of assassinations targeting
leading Lebanese national figures, is an attempt to eliminate a prestigious and
significant figure in Lebanese political life,” Hariri said, according to a
statement from the Future Movement leader’s office.
“This terrorist attack that
failed ... imposes great responsibilities on Lebanese political and security
authorities to follow up the case, unveil all the circumstances surrounding it,
and inform the public of what truly happened and what is being planned to
threaten Lebanon and its stability,” he added.
Hariri, according to the
statement, contacted Geagea and expressed solidarity with his ally and voiced
outrage at the assassination attempt this morning.
Although Geagea said he would not
accuse any party in the case, he said the incident represented a continuation
of the series of assassinations of politicians in the country that began in
2004.
“We are in front of a real series
of crimes. Some thought that the series of assassinations ended after the Doha
Accord but this is not the case,” he said, referring to a Qatar-sponsored
treaty that ended days of clashes between supporters of the Hezbollah-led March
8 coalition and Future Movement-led March 14 alliance in May 2008.
The March 14 coalition, of which
Geagea is a leading member, also condemned the attack on the LF chief.
“The March 14 secretariat general
condemns the attack on the headquarters of the Lebanese Forces in Maarab,
Kesrouan, which is also the residence of its leader Dr. Samir Geagea,” the
statement said.
It called on the government to
uncover “the circumstances surrounding this serious incident that targeted a
great national figure and a leader in the March 14 coalition, especially that
this attack comes as part of the provocative behavior by symbols that remain
within the sphere of influence of the Syrian regime.”
During his news conference,
Geagea said authorities who were called in to investigate are searching the
forest in the vicinity for the culprits, adding that the helicopter swooping
overhead was part of the operation.