A top Lebanese army general was killed today in a powerful car-bomb blast in a Beirut suburb, deepening Lebanon’s political crisis.

General François Hajj, the army’s director of military operations, died along with at least four other soldiers when the bomb exploded as his vehicle passed through the upmarket Baabda district near the presidential palace.

He is the ninth prominent Lebanese to be murdered over the past three years, but the first senior security official to be targeted.

Nayla Mouawad, the Social Affairs Minister, who is the widow of Rene Mouawad, a former president assassinated in 1989, described General Hajj’s murder as a “coup d’état”.

“It’s a strong message telling us that ‘this army that you are so proud of cannot ensure security in Lebanon’,” she told The Times. The huge explosion, caused by an estimated 35kg (77lb) bomb packed in a BMW, blew the General’s car off the road, sending it down a ravine in a ball of fire. His body was flung more than 100 yards from his car. The blast, which damaged nearby buildings and set other vehicles ablaze, occurred during the morning rush hour and caused lengthy traffic jams as panicked parents rushed to collect children from schools.

General Hajj’s death has caused shock in a country that has grown accustomed to killings and bomb attacks since the assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister, in a truck-bomb blast in February 2005. The only other security official targeted in the past four years was a police colonel involved in the Hariri murder investigation who survived a roadside bomb attack in September 2005.

A senior Lebanese army officer said: “This is very unusual. It’s the first time in 30 years that the army has been targeted in this way.”

General Hajj’s death came two days after a parliamentary session to elect a new president was postponed until December 17, the eighth time MPs have failed to elect a new head of state. Lebanon has been without a president since November 23.

General Michel Suleiman, the commander of the Lebanese army, has been picked as a consensus candidate for the presidency, but his election has become bogged down in a constitutional spat between pro- and anti-Syrian factions.

The army earned praise in the summer for confronting the al-Qaeda-inspired militants of Fatah al-Islam in a bloody three-month campaign in northern Lebanon. General Hajj played a key role in the confrontation, prompting speculation that he may have been killed in a revenge attack.

However, he was also being tipped to become the commander of the army if General Suleiman were elected president, raising the possibility of other motives.

THE VICTIMS

February 2005 Rafik Hariri , former prime minister, car bomb

June Samir Qasir, anti-Syrian journalist, car bomb

December Gibran Tueni , journalist and anti-Syrian MP, car bomb

November 2006 Pierre Gemayel, Christian politician, shot

June 2007 Walid Eido, anti-Syrian MP, car bomb

September Antoine Ghanim , anti-Syrian MP, car bomb

Source: Times archive

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