BEIRUT: The Internal Security Forces unveiled 31 electro-chemical timers on Tuesday that ISF chief Achraf Rifi said had been "confiscated last week" from the "vicinity" of the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in Sidon. Militants had intended to use the devices for "terrorist operations," Rifi said, declining to elaborate on details of the alleged operation or of the seizure.
The announcement came two days after a report by prominent US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said that the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was allowing and possibly supporting the expansion of Sunni extremist groups in Lebanon, partly in an attempt to counter a challenge to its power by Hizbullah.
Hersh's report cited "American, European and Arab officials" as saying that "the Siniora government and its allies had allowed some aid to end up in the hands of emerging Sunni radical groups in northern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and around Palestinian refugee caps in the South."
On Monday, Siniora's office said Hersh's report was "totally unfounded" and that the charges "totally contradict the mission statement of the Lebanese government which works hard to strengthen the abilities" of the Lebanese security forces.
The ISF displayed the confiscated timers at a shooting range in Aaramoon on Tuesday.
Source : The Daily Star