THE MIDDLE EAST: A bomb in Beirut yesterday killed Mr Elie Hobeika, whose pro-Israel militia massacred hundreds of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 1982. A Lebanese group saying it opposed Syria's continued grip on the country claimed responsibility, writes Joseph Logan
The dead man had no shortage of Palestinian and Lebanese enemies, but many in Beirut initially jumped to blame the Israelis whose invading troops surrounded the camps at the time.
Mr Hobeika died a day after saying he was ready to testify in a case brought by Palestinians in Belgium accusing the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, of crimes against humanity. Mr Sharon, who was defence minister at the time, denies sanctioning the massacres.
Israel denied any role in the blast which ripped through a Beirut suburb as Mr Hobeika was leaving home, killing him, two bodyguards and another person and injuring three more.
"It's totally unfounded. We have left Lebanese territory. We don't want to play (a role) there any more," the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres said in response to an accusation by Lebanon's minister of displaced people, Mr Marwan Hamadeh,.
He had told reporters in Jordan: "Of course Israel doesn't want witnesses against it in this historic case in Belgium which will certainly convict Ariel Sharon, the permanent and continued criminal." An aide to Mr Sharon called his claim rubbish and a complete lie.
Celebratory gunfire erupted in Palestinian camps in Beirut after news of Mr Hobeika's death. It was the first killing of a major Lebanese political figure since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Later, a group calling itself the "Lebanese For a Free and Independent Lebanon" said it carried out the attack to warn Syria to get out of Lebanon. There were no claims from better known anti-Syrian groups.
Lebanese Justice Ministry sources said a car carrying 10 kg of explosives blew up as it passed Mr Hobeika's car, where oxygen tanks fuelled the blast, charring the bodies of Mr Hobeika and his driver and tossing others as far as 50 metres. However, one security source said explosives had been planted in diving gear that Mr Hobeika had in his own vehicle.
"Israel is responsible for this," said Mr Nasri Lahoud, a Lebanese military court official, as he inspected the scene. However, one of Mr Hobeika's weeping neighbours said: "I'm sure it was the Palestinians," suggesting Palestinians had finally taken revenge for the massacres.
Mr Hobeika commanded the Christian Lebanese Forces militia, which killed hundreds of Palestinian refugees while Israeli troops, who invaded Lebanon in 1982, encircled the two camps.
Mr Hobeika said in July that to prove his own innocence he was ready to testify against Mr Sharon. He repeated the offer on Wednesday to visiting Belgian senators. The Palestinians' case was launched under laws giving Belgian courts powers to try crimes against humanity, wherever they have been committed.
There was no immediate reaction from Syria, with which Mr Hobeika maintained close ties. Lebanon has been dominated by Syria since the civil war.
Earlier yesterday, Israel voiced new fears that a regional conflict could flare in the Middle East after the first cross-border attacks in more than three months by Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas backed by Syria and Iran.
After Hizbullah fired rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli military positions for the first time since October, Israel sent warplanes on raids into southern Lebanon on Wednesday. "Hizbullah has the potential to bring about not only a local clash on the northern border but a regional flare-up," the Israeli Defence Minister, Mr Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told army radio. - (Reuters)
David Horovitz reports from Jerusalem:Israel yesterday firmly rejected suggestions that it had played any role in the killing of Mr Hobeika. The Foreign Ministry issued a statement characterising such claims as foul and baseless.
The Foreign Minister, Mr Peres, said: "We have left Lebanese territory. We don't want to play there any more."