An explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday, targeting the convoy of former minister
Sources at the explosion site said Chatah was on his way to attend a meeting at Beit al-Wasat when the explosion occurred.
The sources added that the explosion was caused by a booby-trapped car, identified as a Nissan, which was parked only one hour before the explosion, according to initial information, while Internal Security Forces' Criminal Investigation teams are collecting evidence from the scene.
The driver's license of former minister Shatah was found at the explosion scene, while his car's registration papers indicate that he was driving a 2011 Nissan Xtrail with a registration plate number 364/J, holding his full name: Mohamad Bahaa Mohamad Hussein Chatah.
In information made available to LBCI, no arrests have been made so far, and the explosive-laden vehicle is a Honda reported stolen from Lebanon in 2012.
Sources reported that the body of the former minister was transported to the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), while the body of his bodyguard Tarek Bader was transferred to the Clemenceau Hospital.
The State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered the erection of a tent at the explosion's site to determine quality of explosives and depth of crater created by the explosio. This as footage of the surveillance cameras at the explosion site
are currently being analyzed, while testimonies of eyewitnesses are being heard.
This comes as Judge Saqr and acting General Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud headed to the site of the explosion and followed up on the investigations, where the latter noted that the bomb used in the Starco attack weighed between 50 and 60 kilograms.
In this context, caretaker Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil confirmed that the death toll from the explosion reached 6, including former minister Chatah, while the number of injured is 71.
The victims were identified as former Minister Mohammad Chatah, his bodyguard Tarek Bader, Mohammad Naser Mansour (Lebanese), Kevork Takajian (Lebanese), and Saddam Khanshouri (Syria).
Among the identified injured at the site of the explosion were: Omar Bekdash, Mohammad al-Chaar, Rabih Youssef and Ahmad al-Moghrabi, while those identified at the AUBMC were: Nadine Yahya and Hayfa Abou Haydar who was slightly injured. However, 6 buildings (including 3 residential buildings and 3 offices), 14 commercial shops and 42 vehicles were damaged.
Hassan Khalil ordered the capital's hospitals to receive all the injured and provide the appropriate treatment. He said that today's explosion comes in line with a series of attacks against Lebanon, calling on all the factions to come together.
Prior to the explosion, Chatah had
tweeted the following: “Hezbollah is pressing hard to be granted similar powers in security and foreign policy matters that Syria exercised in Lebanon for 15 years.”
Meanwhile, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati ended his holiday vacation and is set to return to Lebanon later today in order to follow up on the developments. He will discuss with President Michel Sleiman the necessary measures to be implemented.
In the same regard, Mikati tasked the Disaster Management Authority to hold an urgent meeting at the Grand Serail to follow up on the implications of the explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Following the meeting, Major General Mohammad Kheir headed to the site of the explosion, and noted that the Disaster Management Authority will be taking various measures to aid persons affected by the explosion.
The funeral service of the assassinated former minister is set to be held on Sunday at the Mohammad al-Amin mosque in Downtown Beirut. However, earlier a member of his family had told LBCI the funeral would be held in Tripoli, Chatah's native town.
Friday's blast came less than three weeks before the trial for those suspected in Rafik Hariri's assassination was set to begin.
Five Hezbollah members have been indicted for alleged involvement in the killing.
Hezbollah rejects the accusations, and has refused to hand over the suspects.
More recently, the country has seen a wave of violence as Lebanon's Sunni and Shiite communities line up with their brethren on opposing sides in Syria's civil war.
That has fueled predictions that Lebanon, still recovering from its 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, is on the brink of descending into full-blown sectarian violence.
There has been a series of bombings in districts dominated by Hezbollah, apparently in retaliation for its decision to send guerrillas to fight alongside Assad's forces against rebels, as well as twin car bombings in Tripoli, Lebanon's largest city and a Sunni stronghold.
There have also been repeated clashes between Sunnis who largely back Syria's rebels and Shiites and Alawites who back Assad.
The last such assassination in Lebanon was in Oct. 19, 2012, when a car bomb assassinated Lebanon's top intelligence chief, Wissam al-Hassan.
Al-Hassan, a member of Hariri's security circle, was a powerful opponent of Syria's influence in Lebanon and many here blamed his killing on Syria.
The 62-year-old Chatah was a prominent economist who once worked at the International Monetary Fund in the U.S. and later served as Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. He was one of the closest aides of Rafik Hariri.
He later became finance minister when Saad took over the premiership, and stayed on as his senior adviser after he lost the post in early 2011.
Hariri's 2005 assassination sparked massive demonstrations that eventually led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, following nearly three decades of military presence and domination of its smaller neighbor.
Reactions: