Bourj Hammoud: Tension under the surface

Monday Morning, Lebanon
Sept 27 2004

Tension has been very much alive in the Beirut suburb of Bourj
Hammoud following the cold-blooded murder of Pierre Affara, 20,
allegedly by a group of Kurds. There were unconfirmed reports that
the affair was a contract killing provoked by someone who had a
property dispute with the young man or with a member of his family.
Following Affara’s funeral, there were clashes between friends of the
deceased and young Kurdish men in which several of the latter were
injured. There were also clashes between Kurds and ethnic Armenians,
who are the largest single group in Bourj Hammoud.

Several days later, scores of Syrian workmen, employees at the
Sukleen company, demonstrated in favor of their Kurd compatriots.
The Armenian Tashnak Party issued a statement saying that the violence
had been provoked by “an incident of a personal nature and was in no
way motivated by confessional motives”.