Obama told me so: 01/11/15

Sunday, 11 January 2015

UN Security Council condemns north Lebanon suicide attack

Jabal Mohsen bombing: a sign of things to come

The verdict on Saturday night’s shock attack on a cafe in an Alawite Tripoli neighborhood was clear: Lebanon, get...

Obama To Propose Laws On Hacking Notification, Student Privacy

President Barack Obama wants Congress to pass legislation requiring companies to inform customers within 30 days if their data has been hacked, a move that follows high-profile breaches at retailers including Target, Home Depot and Neiman Marcus.

A White House official said Obama would announce the proposed legislation Monday, along with a measure aimed at preventing companies from selling student data to third parties and from using information collected in school to engage in targeted advertising.

Obama's proposals are part of a White House effort to preview components of the president's State of the Union address in the lead-up to the Jan. 20 speech. The official, who insisted on anonymity, was not authorized to discuss the proposed legislation by name ahead of Obama's speech at the Federal Trade Commission.

If passed by Congress, the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act could require U.S. companies to notify customers within 30 days of their personal information being compromised. Recent hackings have exposed the lack of uniform practices for alerting customers in the event of a breach.

The legislation would also make it a crime to sell customers' identities overseas.

Obama's proposals also follow last month's hacking at Sony Pictures Entertainment. The White House has blamed the cyber attack on North Korea and responded with new sanctions against the isolated nation.

In addition to the customer notification legislation, Obama will also ask lawmakers to pass the Student Digital Privacy Act. The measure would prohibit companies from selling student data to third parties, a move spurred by the increased use of technology in schools that can scoop up personal information.

The White House official said the proposed bill is based on a California statute.

It's unclear whether the new Republican-led Congress will take up either of Obama's legislative proposals.

ISF elite unit carries out operation inside Roumieh prison's Islamist detainees quarter

New car tech outstrips movie special effects, video games

Sometimes you come across stuff that makes you shake your head in sympathy, particularly when people invest so much...

Cabinet finally reaches deal over divisive waste treatment

BEIRUT: A preliminary agreement has been reached regarding the waste treatment file, a source close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam told The Daily Star Sunday.

Monday’s Cabinet session dedicated to the issue will be a smooth one that will generate a conclusive solution to the divisive file that had put the government’s unity at risk, the source added.

An agreement was reached over waste treatment following a meeting Sunday between Salam and Information Minister Ramzi Joreige, from the Kataeb Party, the source added without further elaboration. Kataeb Party ministers had voiced opposition to the plan to treat solid waste as proposed by Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk, saying it lacked transparency.

The Cabinet will hold a special session Monday to tackle the controversial proposal to treat solid waste that had threatened to throw the already divided government into further disarray after it failed to reach an agreement last week.

Speaking to visitors at his residence in Moseitbeh earlier Sunday, Salam said that the Cabinet would try during Monday’s session to find a solution to this problem.

“The Cabinet will not be stopped by a statement here and there, or by a stance here and there, in order to freeze the [waste] issue. We will try to tackle matters as much as we can in a practical and logical manner,” Salam said. The Daily Star has learned that the Kataeb stance on the waste issue, to be announced by party leader Amine Gemayel Monday ahead of the Cabinet session, might carry positive elements softening the Kataeb ministers’ opposition to the plan, by agreeing to the state’s role in choosing the location of the landfills instead of leaving this matter to contractors, as was mentioned in the Environment Ministry’s original plan.

The Cabinet was in a race against time to reach an agreement on the solid waste treatment plan to avoid Beirut’s streets being flooded with trash after Jan. 17, when the contract between the government and Sukleen, the company responsible for sweeping and cleaning the streets of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, expires.

Solidarity in Lebanon after brutal attack

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Rival Lebanese leaders teamed up Sunday in a show of solidarity to foil plans to incite sectarian strife by the two suicide bombers who struck in Tripoli, killing at least nine people, in the most serious breach of a government security plan that restored law and order to the violence-ravaged northern city.

Saturday night’s twin suicide bombings in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli, claimed by the Nusra Front, Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, have raised fears of Lebanon getting drawn further into the nearly 4-year-old war in Syria.

Nusra Front issued a statement on social media Sunday evening saying the attacks came in response to the Lebanese government’s negligence in punishing those behind the bombings of the Al-Taqwa and As-Salam mosques in Tripoli last summer.

More than 30 people were also wounded in the blasts that posed a new challenge to the Lebanese Army, which crushed Islamist militants in Tripoli in October as part of its open battle against terrorism. The Army has often clashed with ISIS and Nusra Front militants who are still holding 25 soldiers and policemen hostage on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal.

A military investigation has been launched to determine where the two Lebanese suicide bombers came from, who sent them and who provided them with explosives belts to blow themselves up in a crowded cafe in the Jabal Mohsen district, which in the past few years had fought deadly battles with the predominantly Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood over the conflict raging in Syria.

The Lebanese Army identified the two suicide bombers as Taha Samir al-Khayal, 21, and Bilal Mohammad al-Mariyan, 29. Both were Lebanese.

Residents and witnesses said a suicide bomber detonated his vest just outside the cafe in Jabal Mohsen and after people rushed to the scene five minutes later, another man walking toward the crowd shouting “Allahu akbar” blew himself up.

Security sources said, Khayal, who hails from Tripoli’s Mankoubeen neighborhood, had returned to the area over a week ago after being absent since the October 2014 clashes in the city.

The Army Sunday arrested three suspects who were regularly seen in Tripoli with Khayal during the week before the attack.

An Army statement said the explosives belts worn by the two attackers contained about 4 kilograms of TNT. In addition to an Army force that sealed off the targeted area, a number of military experts examined the site of the bombing to determine the circumstances of the attack, it said.

In condemning the bombings, Lebanese leaders also called for national unity to prevent a new outbreak of sectarian strife in the country.

“Terrorism will not stop, neither in Lebanon nor elsewhere. Confronting it calls on us to be united,” Prime Minister Tammam Salam told visitors at his Moseitbeh residence. “The goal of the bombings is to [incite] strife among the Lebanese. But their goal will not be achieved because Lebanon will not be a safe haven for such operations.”

In another statement, Salam called on the Lebanese to stand behind the Army and security forces against terrorism. “We tell those sick minds that this crime will not terrorize the Lebanese or the Tripolitans and will not weaken the state’s determination to fight terrorism and terrorists,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri strongly condemned the terrorist “crime,” saying it was aimed at rekindling strife and destabilizing Tripoli after the Army and security forces succeeded in halting the cycle of violence in the northern city, confronting terrorist organizations and reinforcing security.

“This heinous terrorist crime requires combined efforts by all Lebanese, who should strongly support the Lebanese Army and security forces in taking the required measures to preserve security, arrest the perpetrators and all those behind them and bring them to justice,” Hariri said in a statement.

The Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted the cafe in Jabal Mohsen. “A suicide operation targeted a cafe [belonging to] the Alawite Arab Democratic Party in revenge for the Sunnis in Syria and Lebanon,” the Nusra Front said on its Twitter account.

It added that the two attackers had been trained in Syria’s Qalamoun region near the border with Lebanon and sent to Tripoli to carry out the twin attacks.

However, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk told a news conference that preliminary information suggested that ISIS was behind the attack. “These operations are neither separate nor discontinuous and the suicide bombers are members of [ISIS],” he said after chairing a security meeting in Tripoli.

Recurring violence in Tripoli took on an increasingly sectarian nature with the beginning of the war in Syria nearly four years ago. The ADP is an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Bab al-Tabbaneh’s residents largely support the rebels fighting to oust him.

Machnouk also inspected the bombing site, saying residents of Tripoli and the north were united against “extremism and takfirism.” Asked about fears of a return to bombings, he said: “As long as the fire rages on in Syria, the escalation will get worse. But with our conscientiousness, unity and the capability of security institutions, above all the Army, [we] will be able to resist [terror].”

According to Machnouk, the suicide bombers “might” have been tied to Monzer al-Hasan – a militant suspected of links to other suicide bombings in the country. Hasan was killed when security forces raided his apartment in the posh City Complex building in Tripoli last July.

Security forces had intelligence that Hasan provided explosives belts and materiel to a terrorist cell that was planning to carry out major attacks in Lebanon. Hasan was also suspected of being the main supplier of a Saudi suicide bomber who blew himself up in Beirut’s Duroy Hotel in June.

Machnouk said that he was contacted by Hariri, who pledged to pay for the rehabilitation of the area damaged in the explosions.

In condemning the bombings, Hezbollah said takfiri groups were the source of all evil. “Takfiri ideology targets all of us indiscriminately,” the party said, adding that the attack on the cafe denoted that “takfiri” groups were “bothered” by the ongoing dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement.

Washington condemned the Tripoli attack. “The United States strongly condemns yesterday’s suicide bombing at the Omran Café in the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood of Tripoli, Lebanon,” the State Department said in a statement.

The U.S. will continue its “strong support for the Lebanese security forces as they protect the Lebanese people, combat violent extremists, and preserve Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty and security,” it added.

Iran also denounced the attack. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the perpetrators of the “ominous act” have targeted Lebanon’s unity, solidarity and stability.

Gearing Up For Another Season Of Campaign Reporting

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

Political reporters are gearing up for a long, vicious presidential campaign in 2016. But has coverage gotten worse over the years? NPR's Arun Rath speaks with Politico media watcher Dylan Byers.

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Jabal Mohsen bids farewell to fallen sons

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: “Make way for the martyrs, the heroes,” a loudspeaker bellowed Sunday, as ambulances bearing coffins arrived in Jabal Mohsen, black mourning flags fluttering in the frigid afternoon breeze.

Minutes later, Khoder Issa Khaddour held his father’s coffin atop his shoulder. “Everyone is congratulating me about you, Abu Ali,” he said softly, caressing the wooden casket draped in a Lebanese flag.

Residents and witnesses spoke of the heroics of “Abu Ali” Issa Khaddour Saturday night. After a suicide bomber detonated his vest outside a cafe in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen, the 60-year-old father of seven rushed with locals to the scene, a mere hundred meters from his house.

But five minutes after the first bombing, he noticed another man walking toward the crowd shouting “Allahu akbar.”

Residents and witnesses said Abu Ali then tackled the suicide bomber before he could reach the crowd, perishing alongside him and preventing an even greater massacre.

“Do not give me condolences, congratulate me,” Khoder Khadour told The Daily Star. “Our traditions and our faith tell us to give martyrs, and my father was a hero and a martyr.”

“We are proud of him, and he is the martyr of all of Jabal Mohsen and Lebanon,” he added.

Abu Ali died with at least eight others in Lebanon’s first suicide attack of 2015, after a lull that lasted nearly a year.

In a funeral procession for the victims attended by thousands, women in the balconies above showered the mourners with rice, their smiling faces streaked with tears of grief, as their feelings of loss intermingled with joy amid chants declaring the martyrs destined for heaven. As each casket was brought out, the crowds clapped and cheered in respect.

The mourners’ chants repeated the Islamic declaration of faith, praised Imam Ali – the Prophet Mohammad’s cousin from which the Alawite sect’s name is derived – declaring that “Alawite blood is boiling,” and condemned the Nusra Front and ISIS, while proclaiming “God is greater than terrorism.”

Fresh details of the attack emerged as the funeral took place near the crime scene.

A witness who was inside Ashqar cafe, the scene of the first suicide attack, said a bearded man had walked into the establishment, which had some 60 patrons out on the weekend, before beginning to back away.

The witness said the man may have entered Ashqar cafe by accident and may have been aiming instead for the much larger Omran cafe meters down the road, which he said had over 200 customers.

“He came in and looked up as if he was in the wrong place, and then he backed out, but his jacket got tangled in something,” he said. “So he said ‘Allahu akbar’ and blew himself up.”

“The last thing I saw was a blast,” he added.

When the witness, who asked to remain anonymous, regained consciousness he rushed outside to find a crowd gathering, with wounded and dead people laid out on the floor.

“We got out and started yelling at everyone, and then we saw another man shouting ‘Allahu akbar,’ and Abu Ali Issa grabbed him and fell with him to the floor, and we saw [the suicide bomber’s] hand move and then he blew both of them up,” he said. “If he had gone into the second cafe, there would have been a massive massacre.” Multiple residents confirmed the details of this account.

While the details are still unconfirmed, it appeared that the second attacker may have originally intended to target Omran cafe as well. But after the first attacker blew himself up at Ashqar cafe, the second man may have opted to follow suit and capitalize on the crowds gathering there instead.

Ashqar cafe remains devastated, the ground littered with glass, tables, chairs and nargileh pipes overturned, half-empty glasses of the popular “matta” tea untouched since Saturday night.

Outside the cafe, a pool of blood still lies fresh by the entrance, nurtured by the rain that fell after the twin suicide attack.

Residents circulated images taken by a local of a decapitated head of a young man lying by the cafe. They alleged that the head belonged to one of the suicide bombers, because nobody in the tightly knit community recognized him.

Soldiers guard the entrance to the cafe and have set up a cordon around the blast sites. Armored cars are deployed throughout Jabal Mohsen and its entrances.

While the community was clearly shaken and traumatized by the sudden attack, locals and religious officials absolved their Sunni neighbors of responsibility, saying they had enjoyed months of peace with their traditional rivals in Bab al-Tabbaneh, who unlike Jabal Mohsen, support the Syrian uprising.

The politics of the Syrian uprising have long been a fixture here, but the twin suicide bombings, blamed on radical groups from Syria, was an escalation in a conflict that had taken the form of armed clashes in the past between the two neighborhoods. It was also the first serious disturbance in the district since a security plan was implemented in Tripoli last year.

“We hope this will be the last bombing in Lebanon and that we move to a new phase, and that these incidents do not make a comeback,” said Maj Gen. Mohammad Kheir, who heads the Higher Relief Committee and surveyed the damage at the scene. “But anything that happens, we are ready for it.”

Residents and officials urged unity in the face of the attack, while stressing that they would not leave their ancestral homes.

“The martyrs of Tabbaneh, Qibbeh and Abi Samra, of all areas, are also the martyrs of Jabal Mohsen,” said Assad Assi, the Alawite mufti, speaking to reporters meters away from the bomb site. “We are brothers. These martyrs were sacrificed to God and the nation.”

Assi declared the Mankoubine neighborhood, the home of one of the suicide bombers, innocent, as the family of the man had disavowed him.“We stand with the family because it is the terrorist who is an outsider,” he said.

“The people of Tripoli are greater than this,” said another resident. “These terrorists only represent themselves.”

Father of seven who died for his neighborhood

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: A stream of men embrace Khoder Issa Khaddour, kissing his head as his father’s coffin rests on his shoulders.

Khoder smiles through the ordeal, urging all to congratulate him on his father’s martyrdom, not mourn his demise.

“We are proud of him, and he is the martyr of all of Jabal Mohsen and Lebanon,” he told The Daily Star outside his house, a short walk away from the site of a twin suicide bombing that struck the majority-Alawite neighborhood in Tripoli Saturday night.

“This terrorism targets all of Lebanon and not just Jabal Mohsen. He is the martyr of Lebanon.”

“Tell me mabrook, he is a martyr of the nation,” he added.

“He did this to save his family of Jabal Mohsen.”

Residents and eyewitnesses told The Daily Star that Khoder’s father, “Abu Ali” Issa Khaddour, 60, immediately rushed to the scene of the first suicide bombing after hearing the explosion from his house.

His father was often impulsive, Khoder said.

There, Abu Ali noticed a man walking to the gathering crowd and the nearby, large Omran cafe, shouting “Allahu akbar.”

Residents and witnesses said Abu Ali rushed to the man and tackled him before the suicide bomber detonated his vest. The action prevented a larger massacre, locals said.

“I was very happy,” Khoder said, when asked how he reacted to the news. “Our traditions and our faith tell us to give martyrs, and my father was a hero and a martyr.”

“He died a hero and a martyr.”

Abu Ali was father to three sons and four daughters. But Khoder said the tightly knit community of Jabal Mohsen was all one family, and his father died to save them.

But so are the rest of the people of Tripoli, he said, who are innocent of the actions of the men who killed his father. “His parting is a shock to us, but we are proud of him,” he said. “God protect all of the Lebanese people from terrorism.”

Lebanese, foreign officials condemn Tripoli attack

BEIRUT: High profile officials Sunday condemned a suicide attack that targeted a crowded cafe in the northern city of Tripoli over the weekend, killing at least nine and wounding over 30. The incident prompted Lebanese and international leaders to call for a wider national dialogue.

The bombing is the first serious security incident after the implementation of a security plan in June 2014 which ended years of recurrent clashes between the Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen and the Sunni-dominated Bab al-Tabbaneh. Following are the reactions of key officials.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam:The prime minister urged Tripoli’s residents to support the Lebanese Army and security forces and stressed on the need to thwart future attempts to sow strife.

“Terrorism will not stop, not in Lebanon or outside Lebanon,” Salam told The Daily Star. He stressed that terrorism could only be fought through Lebanese unity. “The aim of this operation is [to create] strife between Lebanese, but their goal will not be reached,” he said.

Future Movement:Former prime ministers Saad Hariri and Fouad Siniora strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Tripoli. Hariri described the incident as a “crime” aimed at causing confusion, fueling discord and destabilizing Tripoli, particularly after the Lebanese Army succeeded in halting violence in the northern capital.

“This heinous terrorist crime requires concerted efforts from all Lebanese, who should strongly support the Lebanese Army and the security forces as they take the required measures to preserve security, arrest the perpetrators and all those behind them, and bring them to justice,” Hariri said.

Siniora said terrorism was like an “epidemic” moving from one place to another. “We have to fight it with Lebanese unity,” Siniora said in a statement. He called on Lebanese to rally behind the government and its security bodies. “Otherwise, this epidemic will reach everyone.”

Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said the attack was “a monstrous assault on [both] the residents of Jabal Mohsen and all the Lebanese.” He added that Lebanese would “thwart such assaults through unity and solidarity.”

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi vowed that those behind the “unacceptable and condemned” act would be pursued by the full force of the law. In a statement, Rifi said he would ask Cabinet to refer the case to the Judicial Council along with other terrorist attacks so that “those responsible will be pursued and tried by the judiciary.”

Hezbollah:The party denounced the attack as a “horrific crime,” adding that it was caused by “criminal takfiri ideology which does not discriminate between location, sect or country.” In a statement by the party’s media office, Hezbollah said the attack indicated that “takfiri” groups were “bothered” by the ongoing dialogue between the Future Movement and the resistance.

The party called on all Lebanese groups to “alienate” terrorist groups which are a threat to Lebanon and its Muslim community. It also called on citizens to “strengthen cooperation with the Lebanese Army, security agencies and the government’s institutions,” in its war against terrorism.

Derian:Following the attack, Lebanon’s grand mufti stressed that “religious and national unity would stand in the face of strife.” Derian described the attack as “criminal and terrorist,” calling on Lebanese to stand behind the Army and security forces as they are “carrying out their national duty by preserving stability and security across the country.”

Qabalan:The deputy head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Abdel-Amir Qabalan said that “terrorism has carried out a new massacre with the aim of taking as many lives as possible to fuel strife.”

Through national solidarity, terrorism would not gain a foothold in Lebanon, he said.

Jumblatt:Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said the terrorist threat was looming over Lebanon, but added that the Lebanese Army was fully capable of safeguarding the country.

The PSP leader called on the residents of Tripoli to “stand united” against terrorism.

Rifaat Eid:The secretary-general of the Arab Democratic Party paid his condolences to the victims who died in the attack. “The bombing came as a gift from the vandals and blood-suckers,” Eid said in a television interview. He emphasized his support for Syria and Hezbollah. “Dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement taking place doesn’t mean that everything in Lebanon will be solved,” Eid cautioned.

Geagea:Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea asked the judicial and security authorities to follow up on the attack and hold those responsible accountable. “Any security incident that affects Lebanese on Lebanese territory affects all Lebanese,” Geagea said.

Sleiman:Former President Michel Sleiman stressed the need to unify efforts to combat terrorism, adding that Tripoli had its fair share of painful bloody experiences. Sleiman said that terrorism would not “succeed in dragging Tripoli and the residents of Tripoli into strife, which only serves Lebanon’s enemies,” adding that he hoped Future-Hezbollah talks would ease tensions.

Arslan:Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan said that the attack “targeted the idea of dialogue.” Arslan stressed that Lebanon can’t rely on external forces “because Lebanon’s interest prevails above all only with national unity.”

United States: The State Department statement said the United States expresses its sympathies to the victims’ families, and wishes a full recovery to those who were wounded. The U.S. will continue its “strong support for the Lebanese security forces as they protect the Lebanese people, combat violent extremists, and preserve Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty and security,” it added.Iran:Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said that perpetrators of the “ominous act” have targeted Lebanon’s unity, solidarity and stability.

She also offered condolences to the Lebanese government and nation and the bereaved families of the victims.

“We are confident that Lebanon’s vigilant officials and leaders and political groups will thwart the plots hatched by the ill-wishers for creating a rift among them, through strengthened unity and national dialogue,” Afkham added.

Syria:Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali expressed solidarity with Lebanon in the wake of the suicide bombing in Jabal Mohsen. “There’s a benefit for everyone in fighting terrorism and this doesn’t exclude its supporters and those who nurtured it and observed what happened on Sept.11, 2001, in Europe, the Gulf and Turkey.”

Arab League:Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby praised the “positions and wisdom” of Lebanese leaders after the attack and the role played by the Lebanese Army and security bodies, stressing that the attack aimed at destabilizing the country.

Tripoli suicide bombers kept low profile

BEIRUT: The two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in a crowded cafe in the Tripoli neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen were unknown to security agencies, according to a security source. Neither Taha Khayal, born in 1994, nor Bilal Mohammad al-Miryan Mariyan, born in 1986, both of whom hail from Tripoli’s destitute slums, had been flagged on suspicion of involvement with terror groups, the security source said.

Surprisingly, Samir Khayal, the father of Taha Khayal who blew himself up inside the Ashqar cafe Saturday, has close ties with members of the security forces, according to a source.

The family hails from the neighborhood of Mankoubeen.

Khayal apparently fled the city in October 2014 following clashes between the Army and armed Islamists led by Shadi Mawlawi and Osama Mansour. Khayal’s family expressed disbelief in the wake of the terror incident.

A paternal cousin publicly disowned him and expressed solidarity with Jabal Mohsen residents, while Khayal’s father turned himself in to Army Intelligence for questioning.

Soon after Khayal detonated his explosives vest, the second bomber, Mariyan, known as “Abu Ibrahim” blew himself up in front of the cafe.

Each bomber was strapped with 4 kilograms of explosives, according to the Army.

Mariyan was a native of the often-restive and perennially impoverished neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh.

A fighter in Bab al-Tabbaneh told The Daily Star that “both Khayal and Mariyan were fighting with Shadi Mawlawi and Osama Mansour [last October].”

“Later the two were moved to the outskirts of [northeastern town of] Arsal and joined Abu Malek al-Talli,” the fighter said.

Abu Malek is a Nusra Front commander in the Qalamoun region on the Lebanese-Syrian border. The Nusra Front, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for Saturday’s deadly attack.

Both Khayal and Mariyan were living in the Mankoubeen neighborhood. With few opportunities for education and social advancement, dozens of young men from the neighborhood have joined terror networks including ISIS and the Nusra Front.

But one neighbor in Mankoubeen, who declined to be identified, described Khayal as “a calm guy.

“He did not show signs of religious extremism. His companion Mariyan was the same,” the neighbor said.

Other residents, who also wished to remain anonymous, said that Khayal had been seen in cafes or out with friends over the past week and had not been acting suspiciously.

Jabal Mohsen bombing: a sign of things to come

BEIRUT: The verdict on Saturday night’s shock attack on a cafe in an Alawite Tripoli neighborhood was clear: Lebanon, get ready, this is the beginning of a whole new wave of violence with deep-reaching effects on several issues. “The Jabal Mohsen bombing will be part of a sequence,” said Carnegie Middle East analyst Mario Abou Zeid, adding that Nusra Front, who claimed responsibility for the attack via one of its official Twitter accounts, still has sleeper cells in Tripoli and the operational ability to launch further attacks there.

In contrast to Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, Abou Zeid said he believed it was Nusra Front behind the deadly double suicide bombing that killed nine and wounded 30, not ISIS. But bombers Taha Samir al-Khayal and Bilal Mohammad al-Mariyan, he added, had reportedly been growing closer to ISIS.

“The Nusra Front has been preparing the ground to attack Lebanon in order to distract the Army and Hezbollah and ease pressure on their fighters who are attempting to infiltrate the borders,” he said. “This is part of Nusra’s strategy to ultimately penetrate key border towns [in eastern Lebanon].”

But while that strategy was a constant for most of last year, Nusra Front also appears to be changing some of its tactics.

“The way they are operating, by launching terror attacks [against civilians] and not directly confronting the Army, goes back to the original Al-Qaeda textbook,” he said. “They realize it’s premature to attack the Army, so they waited and are preparing the ground.”

The attack comes just over six months after the last bombing in Lebanon, when a Saudi blew himself up to avoid capture at the Duroy Hotel in Beirut’s Raouche.

Last year saw 10 deadly attacks on various military and civilian targets across the country. They were all perpetrated by militant Sunni groups who vowed to punish Lebanon for Hezbollah’s support of President Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war, a fact that the security crackdowns on militants and hard work to foil terror plots has not changed.

Sami Nader, a professor at Universite St. Joseph and the director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs think tank, pointed to this and other unaddressed factors that meant a continuation in violence was likely.

“The causes of the malaise [in Lebanon] are still real and haven’t been dealt with,” he said. “Hezbollah is still in Syria, nothing has been achieved at the level of the social contract, no national defense strategy agreement, no agreement on Hezbollah’s arms, no president, basically no Parliament.”

“All these are signs of weakness,” he continued, “and these terrorists are organized to take advantage of this weakness.”

Nusra Front and other militant groups would continue to attack Lebanon for two reasons, Nader said: this weakness, and the opportunity to stake out new territory.

“The lines of combat have been drawn in Syria and Iraq, but the areas of influence are still gray in Lebanon; these lines have not yet been drawn,” he said.

Kamel Wazne, a Beirut-based political analyst, agreed that an attack like this was inevitable.

“The campaign of violence really hadn’t stopped, it had just been contained,” he said. “Those people [militant groups], when they have an opportunity, they will act.”

“The security apparatus has been successful in preventing some of these attacks. But eventually when you get two people determined to die this way, it’s really hard to stop it.”

He said the parts of Lebanon most at risk were likely to be the same areas that were targeted in the last round of suicide bombings: predominantly Shiite neighborhoods or places associated with Hezbollah.

“So the southern Beiruti suburbs, the Bekaa Valley and so on. So far the Christian areas have been avoided in the escalation, and I have no reason to think that this will change. But I cannot predict the future.”

Wazne said he believed the recently launched dialogue talks between the Future Movement and Hezbollah, which aim to boost political cooperation and defuse Sunni-Shiite tensions that have soared in the country, will help contain violence.

“It will definitely help reduce the level of violence, because it will stop the incitement to violence and recruitment [for militant groups] among the Sunni people,” he explained. “I think it will also reduce the level of tensions between the two factions.”

Not everyone agrees, however.

“Do I think they [the dialogue talks] will contain the violence? No, not really,” Nader said. “They haven’t achieved anything yet and I think it was driven by a kind of regional appeasement.”

One thing that does seem to be certain is that the attack will affect negotiations to free 25 captured servicemen being held by ISIS and the Nusra Front.

When asked about the issue, Prime Minister Tamam Salam told visitors to his Mseitbeh residence Sunday that it would complicate matters, adding that the bombings had made it clear that the extremist group “did not have a clear agenda.”

“They seem to be working without specific criteria,” he added. “It’s our duty to confront them.”

Though an Interior Ministry source said the bombings would not reflect on the negotiations, Carnegie’s Abou Zied disagreed. “It definitely will,” he said, adding that the question of how exactly would become clearer in coming days.