Israeli forces demolish house of booby-trap suspect

Israeli forces on Thursday demolished the south Lebanon home of a Lebanese man they suspect was responsible for a booby-trapped video tape which exploded Wednesday, killing an Israeli-allied militiaman and wounding five other people.

The tape went off at a border crossing near the Israeli town of Metulla, killing an officer of the South Lebanon Army militia and wounding three Israelis among which was an Israeli bomb expert. Two Lebanese were also lightly injured in the attack.

The Amal group claimed responsibility for the operation. In retaliation, Israeli troops on Friday razed the house of Afif Ruslan, a cousin of Samir Ruslan and an alleged Amal agent who, according to Israel, was responsible for the operation.

Meanwhile, an official of the Amal movement said the operation targeted a senior Israeli officer of the Mossad called Brigadier General Yariv.

The official added at a press conference held Thursday that an Amal agent, whom he did not identify, gave Samir Ruslan the booby-trapped video tape, leading him to believe it was a tape of an imminent suicide attack against Israeli troops in south Lebanon.

Ruslan was apparently delivering the tape to Israel when it went off prematurely at the border crossing.