Tenenti: No Indication that UNIFIL was Target of Tyre Blasts
Deputy spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Andrea Tenenti has said the peacekeeping mission was not the target of bombings that rocked the southern city of Tyre on Wednesday.
The media quoted him as saying there is no indication that the U.N. was the target.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel also denied that UNIFIL was the target of the explosions, saying the attacks were perpetrated by certain parties who oppose the trade of liquor in the area.
Two explosions ripped through a hotel and a liquor store at dawn Wednesday, causing extensive damage but no casualties.
The first explosion targeted a restaurant of the three-story Queen Elissa hotel which lies on the coast. A similar blast tore through the liquor shop a few minutes later.
Political sources said the blasts raised fears over the possible target of UNIFIL but later the investigation revealed the possibility of the prevention of liquor sale as the main motive.
Sources said that investigators have a suspect.
Other sources expressed fears to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that the explosions were aimed at heating the southern border with Israel and sending messages abroad amid the turmoil in the region.
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