The Muslims here are also afraid, and reject these things. Local newspapers blamed the incident on a shadowy group of 200 militants whose leaders fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia, and may have links with terrorist Osama bin Laden. That reported connection, and the sectarian nature of the violence, sent shockwaves throughout the country. The gunfight at Yazbek's house followed a series of church bombings late Last year. Earlier this month, a nun was found strangled.
Locals tell of gruesome killings.
Such reports have fed the tension, especially in the capital, Beirut. For them, relations were good between local Muslims and Christians even during the war, so the violence doesn't resonate the way it does with residents of Beirut, who lived through the worst of the 15-year conflict. The Lebanese want to forget everything about the war. It is no longer in the official memory. There has been nothing like South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission here.