Lebanese police probe sending of four letter bombs

Lebanese police launched an investigation on 12 December into the sending of four letters bombs from Lebanon to three Kuwaiti journalists and one writer. The sender, "a brown-haired man aged about 40," according to early results of the investigation, passed himself off as Ghassan Charbel, deputy editor of the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat. The deputy editor condemned the use of his name and that of his newspaper in this case. In addition to a letter bomb sent to Ahmad Al-Jarallah, owner of the Kuwaiti newspapers Al-Siyassah, Arab Times and Al-Hadath, which injured his personal secretary, three more letter bombs were found by the Kuwaiti Telecommunications ministry before they could be delivered. They were addressed to journalist Nasser Al-Utaybi, of the daily Al-Siyassah, and his colleague Dr Abdallah Muhammad Al-Shaykh of the daily Al-Qabas and to the general secretary of the Kuwaiti writers' union. The Kuwaiti information minister, Mohamed Abdallah Abu Al-Hassan, told the press on 11 December that the letter sent to Ahmad Al-Jarallah could be the work of certain people seeking to provoke a crisis in the country ahead of the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Kuwait on 21-22 December. ------------------------------ 11 Decembre 2003 - Reporters Without Borders condemns letter bomb attempt against editor Reporters Without Borders has strongly condemned a letter bomb attack on a newspaper editor, which left his secretary with facial injuries. Walid Dahdoub was injured when he opened the letter, addressed to the editor of the daily Al-Siyassah, Ahmad Al-Jarallah, one of the country's best-known journalists. The international press freedom organisation urged police to instigate a fast and meticulous investigation into the 11 December attack. The letter bombing, the first ever against a media in Kuwait, has aroused strong emotions in journalistic and political circles, shocked by such a well prepared and targeted act against a figure known for his political and religious moderation and openness. Al-Jarallah said he thought the letter bomb was sent to him "as a reaction to what (he had) written about terrorists and extremists in the Arab world." He is, in fact, known for his fierce criticism of and opposition to religious fanaticism. The journalist, owner of both Al-Siyassah and the English-language daily, Arab Times, is also close to the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdallah. During the war in Iraq he expressed his backing in the newspaper for the US-led intervention. More recently, Al-Siyassah, which appears simultaneously in Kuwait and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia has been very critical of Saudi religious fanatics.