Lebanon Says It is Close to Finding Ziads’ Killers
| Lebanon said it was very close to finding the kidnappers and murderers of a youth and his 12-year-old neighbor. The crime has drawn nationwide condemnation with rival political leaders and top clerics calling for calm. “Authorities are exerting genuine efforts and we are very close to finding those who committed the crime … and those behind it,” Prime Minister Fouad Saniora said in remarks published by the daily Al Mustaqbal on Sunday. “They (criminals) will be punished by the government and we will make sure they pay the price for their actions,” Saniora added. He was referring to the kidnappers and killers of Ziad Ghandour, 12, and Ziad Qabalan, 25, whose bullet-riddled bodies were found southeast of the capital on Thursday. The youths were kidnapped on Monday in what was thought to be a political vendetta for the killing of pro-Hizbullah Adnan Shamas during sectarian street fights in January. Al Mustaqbal said police search for the killers continued across Lebanon. It quoted security sources as saying that authorities will only announce details after crime data and other information is gathered. The sources said two cars, one of which had been used during “some phases of the crime,” have been seized. “But the leading criminals are still at large and search is underway to find them,” one source told Al Mustaqbal.The daily An Nahar said on Friday that interrogation with a number of witnesses has determined that the license plate number of one of the two cars used by the kidnappers corresponds to the Shamas family. It said the license number likely belonged to the brother of Adnan Shamas. The Shamas clan, however, has said in a statement that it had nothing to do with the abduction of Ghandour and Qabalan. |
| Beirut, 29 Apr 07 |
