Lebanese lawmakers warned against assassination threat

Feb 9, 2009, 12:10 GMT

Beirut - Lawmaker and Syria-critic Mustafa Alloush confirmed Monday reports of possible assassination attempts against some Lebanese parliamentarians, but added that precautionary measures have been taken.

'We have been directly informed by the army's command that some Fatah al-Islam members might be preparing for an assassination operation during this period,' against some deputies, Alloush told Voice of Lebanon Radio.

He added that a number of MPs have been advised to take security measures for their own safety.

'Regardless of whether (such threats) are a real possibility or are merely a tactic of intimidation, our past experience has proved that anything is possible. Therefore, all precautionary measures have been taken,' he said.

The comments came a week after news reports said Fatah al-Islam, a Palestinian fundamentalist group which has links with al-Qaeda, might target Lebanese MPs from north Lebanon.

Since 2005, eight anti-Syrian MPs and journalists have been the target of assassinations, plus the massive car bomb on February 14, 2005, that killed former premier Rafik Hariri.

Fatah al-Islam, is a radical Sunni Islamist group that was first formed in November 2006.

It hit the headlines after it was engaged in May 2007 in fighting against the Lebanese Army in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp.

The anti-Syrian camp in Lebanon have always accused Fatah al-Islam of working in Lebanon under the orders of Syrian intelligence.