U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2006 - Lebanon

Political violence continued throughout the year. Most notable was the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel by a team of gunmen in the streets of a northern suburb of Beirut on November 21. This act, the latest in a series of assassinations and attempted assassinations over the last two years, seemed designed to inflame tensions and intimidate forces opposing Syrian interference in Lebanon. An assassination attempt on Internal Security Forces (ISF) Colonel Samir Shehade took place on September 5. Colonel Shehade was injured by the explosion of a roadside bomb which went off as his car passed by the village of Rmaileh, near the southern port city of Sidon. Lebanese officials suspected that the attempt on his life was in retaliation for his role in the investigation into former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's murder.

Between October and November, several attacks targeted ISF barracks in different areas in Beirut. On October 8 and November 1, Energa grenade-type shells were fired at al-Helou ISF barracks, causing damage to the ISF dormitory. On October 10, the Barbar el-Khazzen ISF barracks were also the target of an Energa shell that caused no casualties. The Tareek el-Jedideh ISF barracks were targeted on November 5. In what may have been a related incident, on October 15, two Energa shells exploded in downtown Beirut, injuring five and causing damage to the Credit Libanais Bank building.

Since October 2004, there have been at least 18 bombings and assassination attempts that resulted in more than 32 deaths, including that of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on February 14, 2005. Other attacks have targeted Lebanese journalists and politicians critical of Syrian interference in Lebanon, including Telecom Minister Marwan Hamadeh, MP Gebran Tueni, journalist May Chidiac, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Elias Murr, and journalist Samir Kassir. Each of these attacks remained unsolved. The UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) has been investigating the Hariri assassination and other possibly related crimes, pursuant to UNSC Resolution 1644. The Lebanese government also continued to investigate the acts of political violence.

The government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has taken some gradual steps to prevent terrorist activities. In accordance with UNSC Resolution 1701, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) strengthened its border presence and increased patrols in the south, with assistance from UNIFIL. The LAF deployed 15,000 troops in the south, establishing itself in this region for the first time in 30 years. Also, the ISF created a special unit to combat terrorism, and established branches of this unit to preempt terrorist activity in northern and central Lebanon.

Even with these steps, there are many concerns about Lebanon's ability to combat terrorism. Hizballah still remains the most prominent terrorist group in Lebanon. It has strong influence among Lebanon's Shia community, which comprises about one-third of Lebanon's population. The Lebanese government still recognizes Hizballah as a legitimate "resistance group" and political party. Hizballah maintains offices in Beirut and elsewhere in the country, has official liaison officers to the security services, is represented by elected deputies in parliament, and until recently had one minister in the cabinet.

The unstable political situation in Lebanon also contributed to enabling suspected foreign terrorist organizations, such as AQ and Fatah-Islam, to infiltrate Lebanon and set up operational cells within the Palestinian refugee camps. Some of these groups, such as AQ affiliate Asbat al-Ansar, have been able to find safe haven within the camps to support their actions.

Although Syria withdrew its military forces from Lebanon in April 2005, it still maintained a covert intelligence presence. The Lebanese government accused Syria of continuing to support and facilitate arms smuggling to Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist groups. Even with the post-conflict LAF troop deployments, the Government of Lebanon did not exercise full control over areas in the Hizballah-dominated south, the southern suburbs of Beirut, parts of the Biqa Valley, and inside the Palestinian-controlled refugee camps or Palestinian paramilitary bases. This lack of control provided opportunity for terrorist groups to operate relatively freely in some of these locations. During the national dialogue held in March that aimed to generate consensus among the country's major parliamentary groups, Lebanese leaders agreed to disarm the Palestinian factions located outside the 12 Palestinian refugee camps by September. The intended disarming of the Palestinian factions was derailed by the Summer War and the subsequent unsettled internal political situation.

At the end of 2006, the Lebanese government had not fully complied with UNSC Resolution 1559, which calls for respect for the sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon, the end of foreign interference in Lebanon, and the disarming and disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias. While Lebanon was committed to fulfilling UNSC Resolution 1559, its political leaders maintained that implementation of Hizballah's disarmament should be accomplished through a national dialogue rather than force. Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps, safe havens for several armed Palestinian factions and numbers of Sunni extremists, remained no-go zones for the LAF.

Lebanese authorities maintained that the amnesty for Lebanese individuals involved in acts of violence during the civil war prevented the government from prosecuting terrorist cases of concern to the United States. These cases included individuals involved in the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, during which a U.S. Navy diver was murdered, and the abduction, torture, and murder of U.S. hostages in Lebanon from 1984 to 1991. U.S. courts brought indictments against Lebanese Hizballah operatives responsible for a number of those crimes. Despite evidence to the contrary, some Lebanese government officials have insisted that Imad Mughniyah¹, wanted in connection with the TWA 847 hijacking and other terrorist acts, and placed on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists in 2001, was no longer in Lebanon. Mohammad Ali Hamadi, who spent 18 years in a German prison for his role in the TWA hijacking, was released in December 2005 and was believed to be in Lebanon. The United States continued its efforts to bring him to trial before a U.S. court and formally requested his extradition.

With regard to terrorism finance, Lebanese officials played an active leadership role in the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA/FATF). The Central Bank of Lebanon's Special Investigation Commission (SIC), an independent legal entity with judicial status that is empowered to investigate suspicious financial transactions, investigated 123 cases involving allegations of money laundering and terrorist financing activities. On two occasions, the SIC was unable to designate or freeze the assets of two groups affiliated with Hizballah, on the ground that the groups were affiliated with a political party participating in the Lebanese government, and thus, a decision to freeze their assets would have been a political, rather than a legal, decision.

1 Late in 2006, Mughniya was indicted by the Argentine government in connection with the AMIA bombing in 1994.