Pharaon Says Reservations Unchanged despite Security Jitters

Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon has revealed that no changes were made to ticket and hotel reservations for next month after the deterioration of the security situation in Lebanon.

In remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Tuesday, Pharaon said: “The bookings for the period after the end of Ramadan have not dropped.”

“But there is no doubt that the events of last Friday pushed some people to leave Lebanon,” he said.

The minister was referring to a suicide bombing that targeted on Friday an Internal Security Forces checkpoint in Dahr al-Baydar, the entrance to the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Also Friday, several suspects were arrested during a raid in Beirut's Hamra neighborhood. All but one were released.

The person in custody is a French citizen, originally from the Comoros islands, who allegedly had been waiting instructions on the location of a suicide bombing plot in Lebanon.

Pharaon spoke to al-Joumhouria before another bomber detonated early Tuesday an explosives-packed vehicle near an army checkpoint and a cafe in the Tayyouneh area at the entrance to Beirut's southern suburbs.

“All we want is calm and security,” said Pharaon.

The bombings, coupled with the arrest of suspected terrorists, sparked fears of renewed violence in Lebanon, which has suffered from the spillover of Syria's civil war.

A series of car bombs have struck Shiite areas across Lebanon, killing dozens of people.

Hard-line Sunni groups have claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they are meant to punish Hizbullah for sending its members to Syria to fight alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops.

G.K.

H.K.