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Lebanon Begins Investigating Shooting Outside US Embassy that Caused No Injuries

The new US embassy in Lebanon (US embassy Beirut Twitter account)
The new US embassy in Lebanon (US embassy Beirut Twitter account)
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Lebanon Begins Investigating Shooting Outside US Embassy that Caused No Injuries

The new US embassy in Lebanon (US embassy Beirut Twitter account)
The new US embassy in Lebanon (US embassy Beirut Twitter account)

Lebanon’s security agencies have launched an investigation into a late night shooting outside the US embassy in Lebanon that caused no injuries, officials said Thursday.
No one claimed responsibility for the Wednesday night small arms fire in the vicinity of the entrance of the heavily-fortified compound in Beirut’s northeastern suburb of Awkar. It was not immediately clear if the incident was a politically-motivated attack, said The Associated Press.
US Embassy spokesperson Jake Nelson said that “there were no injuries, and our facility is safe.” He added: “We are in close contact with host country law enforcement authorities.”
Shortly after the shooting, the Lebanese army took measures near the embassy and later security agencies started an investigation including analyzing security cameras in the area, a Lebanese official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
This year marked the 40th anniversary of a deadly bombing attack on the US Embassy in Beirut on April 18, 1983, that killed 63 people including at least 17 Americans. Top CIA officials were among those killed in the 1983 embassy attack in a Beirut coastal neighborhood. US officials blamed the militant group Hezbollah.
In recent years there have been no reported attacks on the embassy although Lebanon has a long history of attacks against Americans since the 1975-90 civil war started.
In 2008, an explosion targeted a US Embassy vehicle in northern Beirut, killing at least three Lebanese and injuring an American bystander and a local embassy employee. The blast, which damaged the armored SUV and several other vehicles, took place just ahead of a farewell reception for the American ambassador at a hotel in central Beirut.
In October 1983, a truck bombing killed 241 American service members at the US Marine barracks at Beirut airport.
In 1976, the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Francis E. Meloy Jr., and an aide, Robert O. Waring, were kidnapped and shot to death in Beirut. In 1984, William Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped and murdered by the Jihad group.
The US withdrew all diplomats from Beirut in September 1989 and did not reopen its embassy until 1991.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.