Report Says IS Planned to Assassinate Macron, 'Saad Too'
The Islamic State had planned to assassinate French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Lebanon in September 2020, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.
The daily said it has learned that the IS group had also been planning to assassinate ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil.
The Lebanese investigations indicated that the IS militants were instructed to carry out a suicide bombing in a blast-hit Christian neighborhood or at the Beirut port, al-Akhbar said.
A coded message was found on a laptop belonging to the network's leader Mohammed al-Hajjar. The technical info showed that members of the IS group and an external handler had discussed the possibility of Hariri being with the French President at the targeted site. The handler answered: "Kill Saad too!"
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/288487 |