By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

TRIPOLI, Lebanon – On September 29, a bomb exploded in Tripoli, killing several Lebanese soldiers and civilians.  Explosives, mixed with nuts and bolts, detonated as a bus carrying Lebanese Army soldiers passed, killing five and wounded at least 17 others.  The dead included four soldiers. 

Officials state that the bomb was stored in a stationary car and that it was detonated as the bus passed.  The detonation occurred at 8:00am, local time.  The bus was carrying soldiers, as well as civilians, to work.  The police immediately cordoned off the area and forensic experts began collecting evidence.

This is the second attack in the past two months that has targeted the Lebanese military.  On August 13, a suitcase bomb exploded as a bus carrying Lebanese Army soldiers passed, killing at least 15, including 9 soldiers.  In the earlier attack, explosives were also mixed with nuts and bolts.  It was the deadliest in Lebanon in more than three years.

The September 29 attack occurred two days after an alleged suicide attack targeted Syrian security forces in Damascus.  According to Syrian authorities, the car, packed with explosives, crossed into Syria from a “neighboring Arab country.”  Some have placed blame on Sunni militant groups in the region and claim that sectarian tensions in neighboring countries, such as Iraq and Lebanon, are spilling over into Syria.

Tripoli has been the site of a number of sectarian battles, with dozens of people killed or wounded in recent fighting between pro-government Sunni fighters and pro-Syrian Shias.  Despite the recent reconciliation agreement, sectarian tensions are still high. 

For example, last month Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian President, stated that Sunni extremists were destabilizing north Lebanon.  Then, two weeks ago, Assad deployed thousands of Syrian troops along the north Lebanon border.  The official reason cited by the Lebanese Army is to fight smuggling.  However the deployment triggered fears in Beirut of a possible incursion.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Blast Hits Lebanese City of Tripoli – 29 September 2008

BBC – Analysis: Lebanon-Syria Attacks Linked? – 29 September 2008

New York Times – 4 Soldiers Killed in Lebanon Bombing – 29 September 2008

Reuters – Car Bomb Hits Bus Carrying Troops in Lebanon, 5 Dead – 29 September 2008 

The Times – Six Dead and Seventeen Injured in Tripoli Car Bombing – 29 September 2008

By Yasmine S. Hakimian
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – On September 27, a car bomb explosion killed at least 17 people and wounded 14 others. The victims included women and children. The attack is one of the deadliest in Syria in more than a decade.

The intersection where the explosion occurred leads to an important Shiite shrine in the Syrian capital. The al-Sayyida Zeinab shrine is one of Syria’s holiest sites. The shrine is a popular pilgrimage location and attracts tens of thousands of Shiites from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon each year.

Muhammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyid, Syria’s Minister of Religious Endowments, is shocked that such an attack occurred so close to Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan. General Bassam Abdul-Majid, the Syrian Interior Minister, believes the bomb was a terrorist act. A counter-terrorist unit is currently working to find the perpetrators.

According to the Middle East Times, the bombing may be the work of extremist groups or part of a “struggle between security forces.” Although, there are many speculations about who is responsible for the bombing, authorities are heavily investigating Islamist militants. Islamist groups were responsible for similar attacks during the 1980s when authorities fought an uprising by Muslim militants.

Fawaz Najia, an Arab political analyst, links the attack to growing Sunni-Shiite tension in the region. Najia also believes the Sunnis fear Iran’s Shiite infiltration of predominantly Sunni Arab countries. Sunni militants have clashed with pro-Syrian gunmen in the Lebanese city of Tripoli for the past several months. According to Najia, a Syrian study centre reported that Iran was pouring millions of dollars into Syria to convert Sunnis to Shiism.

Syria is currently at a political crossroad. In the last few years, there have been numerous clashes with security forces killing Islamist militants and arresting hundreds more. In addition, there has been recent unrest with Islamist prisoners in Syrian jails.

Despite efforts to talk, tension remains between Syrians and Israelis. The clash involves Syria’s support for groups like the Palestinian Islamist movements, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah.

The UN Security Council has stressed the need to bring the “perpetrators, organizers, financiers, and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism to justice” and has urged all states to actively assist the Syrian authorities.

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera – UN Condemns Deadly Syria Attack – 28 September 2008

Jerusalem Post – Syria Says ‘Terrorists’ Coming From Outside Border – 28 September 2008

Middle East Times – Syria Hunts for Damascus Bombers – 28 September 2008

BBC – At Least 17 People Have Been Killed By a Car Bomb on the Outskirts of Syria’s Capital Damascus, Officials Have Said – 27 September 2008

CNN – Syria: Car Bomb Kills 17 in Damascus – 27 September 2008

By Nykoel Dinardo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AL AIN, United Arab Emirates – New visa laws passed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have caused many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to be stranded outside the UAE.  There are reports that as many as 6,200 OFWs are waiting in Iran and Oman for new visas so that they may reenter the UAE;  some have been waiting as long as a month.