This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/7959290.stm
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Bomb kills Lebanon Fatah official | |
(40 minutes later) | |
A roadside bomb in Lebanon has killed a senior Palestinian official and three others, said to be bodyguards, close to Mieh Mieh refugee camp near Sidon. | |
Kamal Medhat, a member of the Fatah faction, was the deputy representative of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Lebanon. | |
The bomb blew one car off the road and reportedly badly damaged another, scattering burning debris. | |
There was no immediate indication of who may have been behind the attack. | |
"It is not possible to speculate on who committed this crime," Osama Hamdan, a representative in Lebanon of the Palestinian group Hamas, told al-Manar television, which is backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. | |
Mr Hamdan added that Mr Medhat had played a role in helping to ease tensions among Palestinian groups. | |
Lebanon's crowded and poorly developed camps, housing families expelled from what became Israel in 1948, are prone to violent unrest and insecurity. | Lebanon's crowded and poorly developed camps, housing families expelled from what became Israel in 1948, are prone to violent unrest and insecurity. |
Two people were killed in a gun battle in Mieh Mieh camp on Saturday. | Two people were killed in a gun battle in Mieh Mieh camp on Saturday. |
'Terrorist crime' | |
Unconfirmed reports say the PLO's chief representative in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, had also been due to visit the camp but was not hit by the blast. | |
"The bomb was apparently hidden in a little shed on the side of the road and was detonated as Medhat's convoy drove by," a Lebanese army spokesman told AFP news agency. | |
The force of the blast tore through the Mercedes in which Mr Medhat was travelling and threw the car into a nearby field, witnesses said. | |
Reuters news agency reported that the bomb was planted under a manhole cover. | |
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing as an act of terrorism, Reuters added. | |
"President Abbas condemns the terrorist crime that targeted Maj Gen Kamal Medhat," a statement issued by his office said. | |
"He dedicated his life to serve his people and his cause." | |
Initial reports of the attack said four people were killed along with the PLO official. |