The question becomes even more important, given the "reactions" made by a political bloc, which seeks to claim that it's the one and only one "targeted" in the country.
The question also imposes itself given the role played by the "General" in such a critical stage in the history of the country...
WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE GENERAL?
On Saturday, September 22, one of Aoun's convoys came under fire in the southern city of Sidon on his way back to Beirut following a visit to the town of Jezzine. Aoun was not in the "targeted" convoy, given that it took separate routes during the voyage to and from Jezzine.
Later on the same day, Aoun confirmed being a target of an assassination attempt, the fourth in his life. "I was the target of three assassination attempts and the culprits were uncovered. This is the fourth one and we hope the culprits will be revealed," he said. "Do not be concerned about the incident we encountered, which is to be expected, as I am addressing you now and I am in perfect health," he told his supporters.
However, and despite the fact that the assassination attempt was confirmed by official sources and by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, and while Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah was calling MP Aoun to congratulate him on surviving the attempt, some March 14 politicians quickly casted doubts about the shooting incident altogether, dismissing the alleged assassination attempt as electioneering tactics ahead of next year's parliamentary polls.
Meanwhile, a probe was launched at the site of the shooting incident in Saida, where General Prosecutor Sameh al-Haj, accompanied by Lebanese Army Intelligence personnel, judicial police and the Internal Security Force's Information Branch, conducted an investigation at the end of the eastern Saida highway leading to Beirut. He listened to testimonies of residents and workers. Authorities are also conducting a search of nearby, unfinished buildings and an orchard as part of their probe.
AOUN TARGETED AGAIN AND AGAIN...
"Why do they want to assassinate me?" the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun asked after surviving the assassination attempt. "I have not killed anyone, nor have I robbed anyone," he said. "We take the opposite course and they want to set Lebanon on fire and we have managed to prevent Lebanon from burning or being burned by any other country," he added.
However, for FPM officials, the assassination attempt was not really surprising. "The General has always been a target," Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Nabil Nicoals said. "This is not the first time Aoun survives an assassination attempt, but once again he survived thanks to God," he told moqawama.org.
Nicolas stressed that such "dirty and cheap" acts would not succeed in getting rid of Aoun's will and determination to proceed with his historic and national struggle path. "The Change and Reform course will continue until achieving real sovereignty, freedom and independence, alongside the establishment of the real state of law and institutions," he went on to say.
MAIN GOAL... STRIFE!
"Whoever sought to assassinate the General was seeking to destabilize the country," MP Nicolas said. He joined other FPM officials who believed sedition was the main goal of the assassination attempt. "By killing MP Michel Aoun, they wanted to cause strife in the country, and repercussions would have been catastrophic," the Lebanese lawmaker stressed, as he pointed to the role recently played by Aoun to reject all forms of strife. "His understanding with Hezbollah is the best proof, and this is what really annoys and angers his rivals."
And to consolidate this theory, political sources pointed to the "site" of the shooting: near the Bahaeddine Hariri mosque in the coastal city. "This is more than a sign showing what the culprits wanted to achieve by killing Aoun," the sources highlighted. Official reports have said that when the convoy reached the Bahaeddine Hariri Mosque roundabout, those inside the car heard the sound of gunfire of three bullets fired toward the convoy at 6:18 p.m. Upon hearing the sound of gunfire, they phoned the man responsible for them who asked them not to stop and he informed security officials of the incident at 6:20 p.m., two minutes after the shooting. And when the convoy reached its destination at about 7:30 p.m., the vehicles were examined and it turned out that one of them, a BMW-X5, was hit with a bullet in the right rear door that pierced the front seat near the driver and landed there.
NOT THE FIRST... BUT!
Here again, "double standards" impose themselves. Indeed, March 14 leaders rushed to "undermine" the incident, and some of this bloc's constituents did not find themselves embarrassed describing it as a "spectacle" or even some "election tactics." This same bloc has previously raised the voice against what it said to be assassination attempts against two of its prominent figures, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and MP Boutros Harb, and called for referring them to international tribunals. In April, Geagea said he had escaped an assassination attempt when shots were fired at his residence in Mount Lebanon. Months later, two detonators were found in an elevator at an office building in Beirut belonging to MP Butros Harb, in another alleged assassination attempt.
"This is the biggest joke. Those who adopted Geagea and Harb's assassination attempts stories were the first to claim that Aoun's assassination attempt was fabricated," MP Nabil Nicolas said. "At least, we called for the public to wait for the probe, and this is simply what should be done," he added, as he stressed that Aoun's assassination attempt was very serious and complicated.
Nicolas has rejected claims of fabricating the attempt. "Whoever accuses us of fabricating the story is a suspect and should be interrogated," he stressed. In earlier statements, he named the Future party in particular, and wondered about the reasons media affiliated with this party rushed to deny any shooting since the first second following the assassination attempt. "This proves they are involved in the case," he concluded.
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