ASSAILANTS ATTACK BUS FERRYING EXTRAS FOR IRAN TV PROGRAMME IN LEBANESE CAPITAL
The Daily Star, Lebanon
June 27 2013
Beirut: At least 10 people, mostly Syrian nationals, were wounded in
Beirut Wednesday [26 June] when assailants wielding knives attacked a
bus carrying hired extras for an Iranian-produced television programme,
security sources said. The extras were to sit in the audience for the
filming of a game show for the upcoming Ramadan season titled “Al-Ribh
Bi Idak” (You Can Win), commissioned by the Iran-based iFilm channel,
which recently launched in Arabic.
The attack took place on the highway near Jisr al-Wati in the morning
after two buses departed from Burj Hammud carrying a total of some 60
extras. The attackers followed the buses, which were not carrying any
special markings indicating the identity of the production company,
in two four-wheel drive vehicles until they reached the stretch of
highway over the flea market at Suq al-Ahad, just before a largely
empty industrial district.
According to eyewitnesses, all of whom spoke on condition of
anonymity, the cars managed to cut off one of the buses, forcing it
to stop. Then, around a half-dozen men boarded the bus and began to
beat the passengers with fists and knives.
One person reported hearing the assailants asking for the agent who
had contracted the extras, Movses Partamian, who was also on the bus,
by name.
“At first I thought it was a personal dispute,” said one of the injured
individuals. “I didn’t even feel myself get stabbed but then I looked
down and my arm was covered in blood.”
Others disputed this version, claiming the men said nothing before
launching their attack.
Another witness, a young Syrian man who was still wearing the suit
that he thought he might appear on television in, said he heard the men
shouting and swearing at them but was too overwhelmed to take in what
they were saying. He described the attackers as large and muscular.
The injured, who were taken to the nearby Mount Lebanon Hospital and
St Joseph Hospital for treatment, included Syrians and at least one
Palestinian. Most of the injuries were light, but Partamian required
surgery for a deep gash on his arm.
Speaking to journalists from his hospital bed in Mount Lebanon
Hospital, Partamian, a Syrian-Armenian, said he suspected the attack
was motivated by “professional competition.”
“We were on our way to film; they stopped us, got out of their car,
boarded the bus and started attacking us. That’s the whole story,”
he said.
“We have nothing to do with politics,” Partamian insisted.
Partamian confirmed that the show had been commissioned for iFilm, an
Iranian channel, but did not believe this played a role in the attack.
He also denied he was personally targeted, adding that he did not
intend to take legal action.
None of the injured appeared to know much about the company that had
hired them, or about the show they had been on their way to film when
they were attacked.
“All I know is that I get paid for a day’s work,” one person remarked
in response to a question about the production company.
Early reports indicated the attack may have been politically motivated,
either for the nationality of the workers or the channel that hired
them, but the circumstances appeared to leave open the possibility
of a personal or professional grievance.
A photographer who arrived on the scene immediately following the
attack observed that a picture of St Charbel was hanging in the
windshield of the chartered bus, suggesting the incident was not a
spontaneous xenophobic attack targeting Syrian or Iranian interests.