Car linked to murder of army corporal found in Bekaa Valley

02 December 2010

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army discovered Wednesday one of two cars that were used in an ambush of a Lebanese Army corporal in November.

A statement issued by the Lebanese Army’s media office said the Military Intelligence department had “found the white Mercedes 230 that was used along with another Nissan Bluebird car of the same color” in the assassination of army Corporal Youssef Qassem Youssef, near the Masnaa border-crossing along the Lebanese-Syrian borders in Bekaa.

Forensic teams from the military police and an expert in explosives examined the car, added the statement.

A group of armed individuals shot and killed 37-year-old Youssef while he was driving to work in the Masnaa border crossing.

The perpetrators, driving two vehicles with tinted windows and no registration plates, fired gunshots at Youssef.

Youssef was critically injured and soon died, according to a Lebanese Army statement, and a passerby was wounded in the skirmish.

Checkpoints were immediately erected in a bid to arrest the culprits.

The National News Agency (NNA) reported Wednesday the car had been parked for two days on the Chtaura road in Bekaa Valley, opposite a gas station and appears to have been shot at.

The NNA said the forensic teams dusted the car for prints.

A security source told The Daily Star that the DNA tests could uncover the identity of the perpetrators and determine whether they have previously been arrested.

In a separate incident targeting the army last week, a driver attempted to run over a soldier who had asked him to pull over.

The soldier chased the vehicle but its passengers fired gunshots in his direction and escaped. – The Daily Star