Car Bomb Triggers Protests, Strikes : Lebanon-Israel Negotiators Fail to Agree on Security

A deadly car bombing in southern Lebanon prompted widespread strikes and protests today, and Israeli and Lebanese negotiators adjourned without agreeing on security measures to prevent a civil war when Israel’s soldiers pull out.

A statement issued by U.N. spokesman Timur Goksel at the end of today’s session between military delegations from Lebanon and Israel said that although Lebanon “expressed its reservations” about Israel’s three-stage plan to withdraw its armed forces from Lebanon, negotiations will resume Thursday.

As the delegates met in this town near the Israeli-Lebanese border, a general strike spread through Muslim areas of Lebanon to protest the bomb attack Monday night at the home of a prominent Sunni Muslim leader in Sidon, southern Lebanon’s largest city.

Two people were killed in the blast and at least 30 others were injured, including Muslim leader Mustafa Saad, who heads a powerful militia in Sidon and is known for his anti-Israeli views.

Saad was flown to Paris in a charter jet with his wife early today and admitted to Bichat Hospital. The couple’s 12-year-old daughter was being treated in a Sidon hospital.

Hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinian demonstrators paraded through Sidon’s streets at midmorning, waving portraits of Saad.

An Israeli patrol of a tank, two armored personnel carriers and a jeep approached the marchers as they neared Saad’s wrecked house, and witnesses said some demonstrators hurled stones at the patrol, prompting Israeli soldiers to shoot briefly into the air. No casualties were reported.

Protests Show Anger In mostly Muslim West Beirut, schools and businesses shut down and many streets were barricaded with burning tires in a show of anger over the car bombing.

Sidon is to be abandoned by the Israeli army by Feb. 18 in the first phase of the withdrawal plan approved last week by Israel’s Cabinet. Dates for the two later stages have not been set.

Saad, who has resisted Israeli appeals for cooperation, suffered serious head injuries in the bombing. Beirut radio stations said he will be blinded permanently if he survives.

Lebanese government and religious leaders accused Israel’s secret service of engineering the Sidon car bombing in an attempt to provoke Muslim-Christian violence at the start of Israel’s withdrawal.

“Israel’s agents will not escape punishment,” said Prime Minister Rashid Karami. “This is a sample of what we have been expecting.”

Salim Hoss, minister of education, said: “The attempt on Mustafa Saad’s life was designed to kill Lebanon’s hope for liberation. It was certainly done by Israeli agents.”

An official of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem denied that Israel was responsible for the explosion.