Lebanese Judiciary Sentences Bashir Gemayel’s Killers to Death

Lebanese policemen are seen in front of a court building in Beirut, Lebanon during the verdict in Gemayel’s assassination case October 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
Lebanese policemen are seen in front of a court building in Beirut, Lebanon during the verdict in Gemayel’s assassination case October 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
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Lebanese Judiciary Sentences Bashir Gemayel’s Killers to Death

Lebanese policemen are seen in front of a court building in Beirut, Lebanon during the verdict in Gemayel’s assassination case October 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
Lebanese policemen are seen in front of a court building in Beirut, Lebanon during the verdict in Gemayel’s assassination case October 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

The Lebanese judiciary has sentenced to death in absentia former official in the Syrian Socialist National Party Nabil Alam and party member Habib Shartouni in the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel 35 years ago.

As the Judicial Council went into session on Friday, members of the Syrian Socialist National Party held a protest amid tight security measures. The demonstrators hoisted posters of Shartouni and shouted slogans in his support outside the Justice Palace.

After the sentence was announced, Kataeb Party and Lebanese Forces members gathered to celebrate at Sassine Square, in Beirut’s Achrafieh district where Gemayel was killed in a bomb explosion on September 14, 1982 only 20 days after his election as president.

The bomb went off at Kataeb’s headquarters, leaving another 23 people dead.

Shartouni had confessed to planting and detonating the bomb and was given 24 hours to turn himself in when the trial was opened in November 2016. But he did not appear before the court and was tried in absentia.

He is believed to be living in Syria, having escaped prison in October 1990 after Syrian troops stormed east Beirut and brought down the government that was led by Gen. Michel Aoun (Lebanon’s current president).

In 2014, media reports said Alam had died. But this week, an interview for Shartouni was published in the local Al-Akhbar newspaper, which described him as a “hero.”

In its verdict, the judicial council said the two suspects carried out an act of terrorism and played a part in hampering attempts to stabilize the country.

“Finally, the verdict was released in the name of the Lebanese people after 35 years of working for (justice) for Bashir and his friends,” Solange Gemayel, Bachir’s widow, said after the court’s decision.

Gemayel thanked the council and said the decision allowed the state to regain its authority and the Lebanese peoples’ belief in constitutional institutions.



Drone Attack Halts Oil Output at Sarsang Field in Iraqi Kurdistan

An oil field in Dibis area on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Iraq (File Photo: Reuters)
An oil field in Dibis area on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Iraq (File Photo: Reuters)
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Drone Attack Halts Oil Output at Sarsang Field in Iraqi Kurdistan

An oil field in Dibis area on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Iraq (File Photo: Reuters)
An oil field in Dibis area on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Iraq (File Photo: Reuters)

A drone attack halted production at the Sarsang oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Tuesday only hours before its US operator signed a deal to develop another field.

The Sarsang field is operated by HKN Energy, a privately held US oil and gas company active in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and owned by Hillwood Energy, part of the Hillwood group founded by Ross Perot Jr.

Two hours after the morning attack, HKN Vice President Matthew Zais was in Baghdad with Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani to sign a preliminary agreement to develop the Himreen oilfield in northern Iraq, the oil ministry said, Reuters reported.

The signing ceremony was also attended by US Ambassador Steven Fagin, whose embassy condemned the drone attacks on oil infrastructure in the Kurdistan region and urged the Iraqi government to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.

Washington said such attacks undermine Iraq’s sovereignty and efforts to attract foreign investment.

Production at the Sarsang field was halted as a precautionary measure after an explosion, two engineers told Reuters.

Kurdistan regional authorities confirmed that the blast was from a drone attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Iraqi Kurdistan security sources said that initial investigations suggested that the drone came from areas under the control of Iran-backed militias.

Heavy plumes of smoke were seen rising from the Sarsang field in the Dohuk region of northern Iraq, said one oil engineer at the field.

Field operator HKN said that the halt to production was to allow firefighters to extinguish the fire, later adding that emergency response teams contained the damage.

There were no casualties, Iraqi Kurdistan's ministry of natural resources and HKN said.

The incident is under investigation and a full assessment of the damage has been initiated, the company said without providing further detail on the cause of the explosion.

On Monday two drones fell on the Khurmala oilfield near Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, damaging the water pipes at the field.