No blame for roadside bomb

The five-nation committee, which convened in Naquora on October 7 to examine four complaints, condemned Sunday's roadside bomb blast which killed two civilians, but failed to apportion blame.

Lebanon's protests involved the shelling of Touline last Friday and Saturday, bombardment by an Israeli position last Wednesday from within Majdel Salim, and Sunday's roadside bomb blast that claimed two civilian lives near Markaba.

The committee which comprises delegates from Lebanon, Syria, France, Israel and US described as "a fact that a Lebanese armed group fired mortar rounds at a position of the Israeli forces from the area of Majdel Salim."

The committee's judgment for Lebanon's two complaints again described the events as "factual."

Regarding the bomb blast that killed Khadija El-Hajj, 45, and her son Ali, 14, on Sunday, the committee "condemned this action and those who carried it out" without placing blame on any one party.

"The monitoring group by unanimity strongly urges that under no circumstances should civilians be the victims of such actions," the statement concluded.

Meanwhile Israeli occupation forces on October 6 shelled the western Bekaa. Security sources said the occupation forces, from their positions in Abou Qamba and the Kawkaba hills areas attacked with heavy artillery the areas of al Qtrani mountain, the outskirts of al Sarira, Birket al Jabour, Abou Rashed and Maimas farm.

The shelling was accompanied by heavy machine-gun fire, and Israeli warplane raids over south Lebanon and western Bekaa.