ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF LEBANON NOT IN DANGER YET

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.05.2007 13:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The situation in Lebanon, especially in the south,
remains tensed, Shahan Kankhadaryan, the editor-in-chief of the Azdak
Armenian-language newspaper told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. The
Armenian community of Lebanon not in danger yet, but it’s hard to
say anything for certain, he said.

"We have cancelled all events dedicated to the 80th birthday of our
newspaper, because nobody can ensure security of our guests," Mr
Kankhadaryan said. The Armenian community will not yield to pressure
and provocation. It will keep aside from the recurrent conflict,
he added.

Amid the tension over battles in a refugee camp in Lebanon, a second
explosion in as many days has rocked a suburb of Beirut May 22. A
bomb went off overnight in a parking lot in the mainly Sunni Muslim
district of Verdun.

Some 20 civilians and 29 soldiers are reported to have been killed.

An earlier report said Fatah al-Islam had claimed responsibility for
the explosion, but that was later denied by the group. As the Lebanese
government held an emergency session and appealed for national unity,
Syria publicly denied any links with Fatah al-Islam.