Wounded Lebanese Militia Commander Suffers Setback

JERUSALEM — Maj. Gen. Antoine Lahad, the wounded Lebanese militia commander, was in intensive care Wednesday after suffering a setback while recovering from an assassination attempt, a hospital official and news reports said.

The 61-year-old Lahad’s condition deteriorated Tuesday night and his blood pressure plummeted, said Dr. Zvi Ben-Ishai of Rambam Hospital in Haifa.

The national ITIM news agency, quoting Dr. Shimon Burstein, director of the hospital’s intensive care unit, said Lahad was on a respirator. It quoted Burstein as saying that Lahad’s condition stabilized Wednesday afternoon after he received blood transfusions.

Lahad, who heads the Israel-backed South Lebanon Army militia, was shot and wounded Monday in an attack in south Lebanon. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by a coalition of Syrian-backed leftist groups in Lebanon.