Manhunt Continues for Four Shamas Brothers in Connection with Ziads’ Killing
| An intensified manhunt for four Shamas brothers in connection with the kidnapping-murder of a youth and his 12-year-old neighbor continued across Lebanon on Monday. The daily An Nahar said house raids also continued in search for the four brothers of Adnan Shamas, 29, who was killed in sectarian street clashes in January. It said the search operation for the killers of Ziad Ghandour, 12, and Ziad Qabalan, 25, may be nearing an end unless the four brothers managed to flee the country, although this report has not been confirmed. An Nahar, citing a senior security official, said the perpetrators “executed” the youths last Monday, the same day they were kidnapped. The sources said six minor suspects, three of whom are detained by the army’s intelligence bureau and three others in police custody, were involved in facilitating logistics. They said the four Shamas brothers took part in the kidnapping of the two Ziads, whose bullet-riddled bodies were found near the town of Jadra southeast of Beirut on Thursday. An Nahar said information based on statements from those in custody indicated that Ziad Ghandour, the boy, was not directly targeted. It said one of the Shamas fugitives called Ziad Qabalan on his cell phone the day of the kidnapping-murder and fooled him into driving to Ein el-Rummaneh under the excuse that he wants to put him in charge of an aluminum workshop. The daily said the culprits used three cars, one for “security preparations” and the two others for the kidnapping operation. It said the four brothers took the victims to the narrow coastal strip leading to the Chouf heartland where they killed them before mediation to free them was launched. An Nahar said it was already too late for such negotiation. It said that a “mediator” finally established contact with one of the kidnappers on Tuesday only to learn about the “execution” of the two Ziads. |
| Beirut, 30 Apr 07 |
