Elie Hobeika, a former Lebanese minister and militia leader, was killed Thursday from mysterious blast.
According to reports from Beirut, an explosion rocked an area near the house of Hobeika. Witnesses said the blast occurred in the Hazmiyeh district of the Lebanese capital, near the house of Hobeika, that was also a member of a Christian militia involved in a massacre of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila camps during the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982.
The explosion took place as Hobeika was leaving his home. At least three other people injured and sprawled on the ground near the site of the blast. Last year, Hobeika said during an interview with the Qatari Al Jazeera TV that Ariel Sharon, now the Israeli prime minister and in 1982 the defense minister, had planned this massacre of Palestinian refugees,.
In July 2001, Hobeika stated in a press conference he was ready to submit evidence to a Beligian inquiry on the role played by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the massacre of hundreds of civilians at Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
In initial assessments, Lebanese security sources conveyed that the former leader of a pro-Israeli militia was assassinated by Israel’s intelligence agency the Mossad in order to prevent him from appearing at the Belgian court. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
