Harb Escapes Booby-Trapped Elevator Murder Attempt, 3 Suspects Flee
Security forces found on Thursday an explosive device in the elevator of a building in Beirut where opposition MP Butros Harb has an office after witnesses wrangled with a suspect who was whisked away by a suspicious vehicle.
Police found the device in the elevator shaft of the building that lies in Badaro district’s Sami Solh street a few hours after the suspect carrying a knife was subdued but managed to escape along with two accomplices.
Harb said three people had claimed they were going to the building’s roof to fix an internet problem when a security guard and a doctor, who has a clinic in the building, felt suspicious and called security agencies to arrest them.
Two of them escaped but the third clashed with the two witnesses, injuring them, the MP said.
During the clash, a gunman stepped out of a BMW four-wheeler with tinted windows that had arrived at the scene, pointed his gun at the suspect by claiming to be from the army intelligence, and took him away, Harb said.
Another car was also seen coming from the opposite direction of traffic at a high speed but its occupants drove away as soon as they discovered that the suspect was no longer there, he said.
According to Harb, when members of the army intelligence arrived at the scene, they discovered that the BMW’s license plate number 285037 was forged and the occupant of the vehicle was not from the military.
The March 14 coalition MP revealed that Interior Minister Marwan Charbel had told him that the Internal Security Forces have received information about possible attempts on the lives of Lebanese officials through elevator bombings.
Harb later received telephone calls from President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, Premier Najib Miqati, and former PM Saad Hariri to inquire about his health.
Charbel later stated from Harb's residence: “We are being affected by the developments in Syria.”
“We are aware of the assassination attempts, but no security authority can be a hundred percent prepared,” he told reporters.
He stressed: “The telecommunications data should be handed over to the security agencies in order to allow them to perform their duties.”
“All figures are assassination targets and coordination is ongoing with politicians,” he said.
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