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Massive bomb rips through lebanese motorcade { February 14 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/14/international/14cnd-beirut.html?hphttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/14/international/14cnd-beirut.html?hp
February 14, 2005
Former Lebanese Leader Is Killed in Car Bomb Explosion
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a self-made billionaire who led Lebanon for most of the period following the end of Lebanon's civil war in 1990, was targeted in a massive bomb explosion that ravaged his motorcade on a Beirut street Monday.
Local TV stations said he was killed but the official news agency said he was badly injured and was rushed to hospital. At least nine other people, including three bodyguards, were killed and more than a dozen cars were set afire.
The private Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. and New TV reported Hariri was dead. However, his own TV station, Future, did not report the death.
But the official news agency said he was taken to the American University Hospital with serious injuries.
The front of the famous St. George Hotel was devastated in the blast, with several balconies blown off. Along the Mediterranean corniche, at least 20 cars were in flames or destroyed, and the fronts of several other bulidings were heavily damaged, including a British bank and the landmark Phoenicia Hotel.
Explosions in Beirut -- while common during the 1975-90 civil war -- have become rare since the conflict ended.
However, in October, amid rising tensions between the government and opposition groups, a car bomb seriously injured an opposition politician and killed his driver in Beirut.
Hariri is a self-made billionaire who has led Lebanon for most of the period since the 1975-1990 civil war ended. Since leaving office in October, he has been considered in the opposition. He has been in a rivalry with pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud for years.
Witnesses at the scene confirmed that Hariri's motorcade had just passed the area shortly before the bomb went off.
TV footage showed dramatic scenes of one burning man struggling to get out of a car window, then falling on the ground. He was helped by a bystander who used his jacket to put out the flames, but it was not clear if he survived.
Several young women were seen with blood running down their faces. Some had to be helped from the scene.
Heavily armed security forces cordoned off the area with yellow tape as rescue workers and investigators combed the scene apparently looking for casualties or clues to what caused the huge explosion.
The explosion near the city's waterfront shortly before noon shook buildings in the city center and was heard in outlying hills overlooking the Lebanese capital.
Rubble and twisted debris covered a road lined with burning cars, the smoke from which enveloping the area as firefighters carrying houses raced to douse flames.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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