Gunmen Kill 25, Wound 82 at Lebanese Rally

Twenty-five people were killed and 82 wounded Monday when gunmen opened fire on a candlelight rally of hundreds of followers of Christian Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun.

Security sources said the attack came at the Nahr el Mawt (Death River) crossing point linking Aoun’s territory to areas controlled by the rival Christian militia, the Lebanese Forces.

The demonstrators, men, women and children holding Lebanese flags and candles, were protesting President Elias Hrawi’s blockade of areas of Christian East Beirut held by Aoun.

“Bodies are still lying on the street with the Red Cross unable to reach them because of continued shooting,” one Christian security source said.

Aoun accused the Lebanese Front and Hrawi’s troops, who guard a checkpoint at the crossing, of opening fire at the crowd.

“It is the ugliest crime. . . . It is a crime committed in cooperation and coordination between Hrawi’s government and the Lebanese Forces militia,” Aoun said.

Aoun does not recognize Hrawi’s authority and rejects reforms aimed at giving Muslims a greater role in Lebanon’s Christian-dominated political system.

Hrawi’s army commander, Gen. Emile Lahoud, issued a statement denying that his troops fired on the rally, adding he has ordered an investigation into the “regretful” incident.

Lebanese Forces radio accused Aoun’s soldiers of shooting at the crowd.

Aoun’s television station showed footage of panic-stricken demonstrators running for shelter and badly wounded people screaming in pain.

Wounded protesters said Lebanese Forces gunmen holding positions just yards from the rally were responsible for the attack.

“I was leading the march. . . . When we reached 25 yards from the forces’ position they opened fire on us,” one wounded man said. “It was a massacre.”

Monday’s night protest followed Aoun’s call Sunday for Lebanese to beat the blockade imposed on his stronghold in a bid to starve him into surrender.

Aoun, 54, was appointed head of an interim government when Lebanon was left without a president in 1988. He has refused to quit despite Hrawi’s election last year.