Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat noted Monday that “Verdun’s bombing is a terrorist attack on financial economics,” saying that it is for Security Forces to identify the source of the bomb.
Fatfat’s comments were made during an interview with LBCI’s Nharkom Said whereby he clarified that he does not accuse Hezbollah of planting the bomb, but he believes that it prepared for the incident.
“Hezbollah besieged the Grand Serail in 2006, threatened the banks and it blocked roads leading to Lebanese banks in 2007. Consequently, the attempt to hit this sector is not something new,” Fatfat added.
The MP also pointed out that the timing of the blast was well-examined in a bid to prevent casualties and fatalities.
“Hezbollah must be convinced that it is Lebanese not Iranian,” he concluded by saying.
A bomb exploded outside the headquarters of Lebanese BLOM Bank in central Beirut on Sunday, causing damage but no fatalities, Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The Lebanese banking sector has been at the center of an escalating crisis since the United States passed a law requiring banks to take steps to target the finances of the armed Shi'ite political group Hezbollah.
Lebanon's central bank has pushed its commercial banks to heed the U.S. act, and BLOM Bank is one of those that has closed accounts belonging to people suspected of links to Hezbollah. The group had no immediate comment on the blast.
The Lebanese Red Cross said two people had suffered minor injuries in the blast, which took place around 8 p.m. in the Verdun area of Beirut.
The building was damaged, with one hole in a concrete wall, and shattered glass had fallen to the ground from several storeys up.
The head of Lebanon's Internal Security Force, Ibrahim Basbous, said the bomb had contained around 15 kg of explosive material and had been placed in a flower bed.