12 Bodies Uncovered From Yarze Mass Grave
The Lebanese army has dug out 12 bodies from the Defense ministry compound in Yarze of victims killed during the Syrian military offensive that flushed out Gen. Aoun from the Baabda palace on Oct. 13, 1990 and sent him to a 14-year banishment in France, the Beirut media reported on Saturday.
Eleven of the 12 were in military uniform, an indication they were from the army that was loyal to Aoun during his reign as interim prime minister of Lebanon from 1988 until October of 1990, when his war of liberation against the Syrians was crushed on the battlefield. The 12th body was charred beyond recognition and may have belonged to a Christian monk, the media said, noting that army troops, Red Cross volunteers and forensic experts took part in the digging operation.An Nahar said samples of the corpses would be taken to Hotel Dieu hospital for DNA tests while the digging operation would be carried out though Saturday for more possible bodies. The case of the missing soldiers was raised by An Nahar last Oct. 13 and legislator Gebran Tueni had tabled a questionnaire to the government before parliament about the long pending affair.