"The
Lebanese secret services and those of the Syrian army present in
Lebanon arrested Lebanese and Palestinian members of a network
planning attacks against the U.S. embassy in Lebanon," the
Lebanese army's press chief told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Nine
people had been arrested, General Elias Farhat added.
He
said the network also planned to "attack posts of the Lebanese
military and the Syrian army in Lebanon and to kidnap a Lebanese
political figure."
The
statement comes a week after a Lebanese military court charged two
Lebanese nationals with planning three unsuccessful attacks against
the U.S. ambassador in Lebanon and the U.S. consulate north of Beirut.
Abdel
Ilah al-Jassem, also known as Abu Obeida, and Kaled Mohammad al-Ali
were charged with trying to kill ambassador Vincent Battle during a
visit to the Lebanese northern city of Tripoli late last year, a
judicial official said.
Jassem
was supposed to fire a missile at Battle's car, but the plan failed
for reasons that remained unclear.
A
second plan was to place explosives in a tunnel and detonate them when
the ambassador's car passed through.
A
third attack was mooted against the U.S. embassy in Awkar, north of
Beirut, with rocket-propelled grenades.
The
two defendants, five other Lebanese and two Palestinians are also
being prosecuted for a string of attacks using dynamite against four
U.S. fast-food restaurants and a British store over the past few
months.
Authorities
were still hunting for a mysterious Yemeni believed to have organized
the attacks.
Anti-Western
attacks, though all of a small scale and with no fatalities, increased
in Lebanon during the U.S.-led war against Iraq.
Syria
maintains thousands of troops and a strong contingent of its feared
intelligence services.
Easing
Pressures
The
announcement seems aimed at showing that Lebanon and Syria want to
increase cooperation with Washington and are particularly concerned
with the security of Americans in their countries, said AFP.
"Since
Damascus and Beirut cannot immediately satisfy Washington on the
question of Hezbollah and other Palestinian groups, they chose to
reassure the Americans in another way," said a pro-Syrian
Lebanese lawmaker, who asked to remain anonymous.
"They
have multiplied good-faith gestures by showing they are ensuring
security for the (U.S.) diplomatic mission in Lebanon and its
personnel and by announcing that they nipped in the bud anti-American
attacks planned by Islamic fundamentalists."
