Report: Security Agencies Received Warning ahead of Iranian Embassy Attack
Security agencies received information on a terrorist attack targeting a diplomatic headquarters that is loyal to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad to exert pressure on Hizbullah to withdraw from battles in the neighboring country.
According to As Safir newspaper published on Wednesday, a security source said that Lebanese security agencies received data from informants and west security agencies warning of a scheme by head of al-Qaida's Abdullah Azzam Brigades Majed al-Majed to attack Hizbullah, in cooperation with Saudi national Ahmed al-Suiedi.
However, conflicting reports emerged on the way the group would carry out the attack, whether by an explosive-laden vehicle or via a suicide attack.
At least 23 people were killed and 150 wounded in twin suicide blasts that targeted the Iranian Embassy in the Hizbullah stronghold of Bir Hassan on Tuesday.
The blasts were claimed by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a jihadist group linked to al-Qaida that has previously fired rockets at Israel from Lebanese territory.
The powerful explosions just opposite the multi-storey embassy caused chaos, ripping the facades off nearby buildings and setting cars ablaze.
Hizbullah, which is fighting alongside the regime of Assad in war-hit Syria, has seen its strongholds in southern Beirut targeted twice by car bombs this year.
The blasts, on July 9 and August 15, killed 27 people.
Tensions in Lebanon over the 32-month-old conflict in Syria have been rising, with Hizbullah's involvement criticized by many Sunni Lebanese who back the Sunni-dominated uprising against Assad.
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