Serra Denies Obtaining Information about Assassination Bid against Berri
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Commander Major-General Paolo Serra denied on Friday obtaining any information about an assassination bid targeting Speaker Nabih Berri.
“Serra has no information about this matter,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in a statement.
The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Friday that Serra informed the Lebanese army intelligence directorate about an assassination bid against Berri.
Lebanese security sources told daily that the Italian national Serra obtained the information from the Italian intelligence. However, the sources refused to specify the side plotting the assassination.
According to the daily, Berri would be targeted on his way from his residence in Ain el-Tineh to the parliament in Nijmeh Square in downtown Beirut.
Sources revealed that a five-member network linked to al-Qaida and residing in Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp will carry out the plot, including Toufic Taha, Ousama al-Shahabi and Mahmoud al-Doukhi.
Conflicting reports emerged in early May that seven Fatah al-Islam members had sneaked out of Ain el-Hilweh and that Toufic Taha was among them.
Taha is reportedly the head of a takfiri network that the Lebanese army had recently uncovered. The group was plotting attacks against army barracks and bases.
It remained unclear where the fugitives had escaped to, but it has been speculated that they were in Syria, and the Syrian security forces detained two of them, media reports said.
On Monday, Berri informed senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed about a list of names he obtained of those who are plotting to assassinate the speaker.
He urged the Palestinian authority to halt any attempt to use the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon to escalate tension in Lebanon.
Earlier this month, the speaker confirmed that a list of politicians and figures would be targeted by extremist groups, describing the threat as serious and dangerous.
In January, security agencies urged Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to take precautions as they might be the target of an assassination plot.
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