 |
|
||
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
   | 
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lebanon seeks international probe into killings
 Tueni was killed in the blast, opposition officials said. RELATED
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSBEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A stormy Lebanese Cabinet session Monday ended with a call for an international investigation into a string of high-profile attacks on critics of Syrian involvement of Lebanon, spurring five pro-Syrian ministers to suspend participation in the government. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called the emergency session after Gebran Tueni, an anti-Syrian member of Lebanon's parliament and a prominent journalist, was killed by a powerful car bomb in eastern Beirut. The blast also killed three others, destroyed more than half a dozen vehicles and shattered windows in buildings hundreds of meters away. The bombing prompted international condemnation and came on the same day that a new U.N. report on the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri reaffirmed the belief that top-ranked Syrian and Lebanese officials were involved in that killing. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tueni's death was a "vicious act of terror against a Lebanese patriot and voice of freedom. That voice will not be silenced." "The United States will remain steadfast in its support of the Lebanese people," Rice said in a written statement. "The forces behind this latest attack, and a series of brutal crimes against Lebanese journalists and political leaders in the past months, must be held to account for their crimes." And French Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said, "The international community is united and determined in standing by the side of Lebanon in this crucial period for its future." Sources said the emergency cabinet session that was called in the aftermath of the attack resulted in Siniora calling for an investigation "with an international character" into the series of attacks against anti-Syrian critics, including an assassination attempt against current Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamada. In response, five pro-Syrian cabinet members from the Shiite political movement suspended their participation in the government, saying an international probe amounted to an intervention in Lebanese affairs. The site of Monday's blast was reminiscent of the bomb scene that killed Hariri -- a massive explosion that left the street littered with debris. Journalist Anthony Mills called it "a scene of destruction," noting how cars had been tossed down a hillside at the blast site. On February 14, Hariri -- who had fought for a U.N. resolution calling on Syrian troops and intelligence assets to withdraw from Lebanon -- was killed in Beirut when a bomb ripped through his convoy. The investigation has led to the arrests and indictments of four pro-Syrian Lebanese security chiefs allegedly linked to the assassination. Since the Hariri killing, prominent opposition journalists and columnists have been killed in similar attacks, but despite investigations, authorities have made no arrests. "The most frightening thing about this is nobody knows why, nobody knows how, and nobody knows who's next," Nadim Shehadi, who directs the Center for Lebanese Studies at Oxford University in Britain, said in September. After the Hariri assassination, facing growing Lebanese protests and mounting international pressure, Syria withdrew its forces from Lebanon -- the first time since 1976 it has not had a military presence there. Syrian troops entered Lebanon in 1976, in the early days of that country's 15-year civil war. Blast follows U.N. report on HaririMonday's blast came a day after the U.N. investigator probing the assassination of Hariri delivered his second report to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The report from Detlev Mehlis says investigators still believe that "top-ranked Syrian and Lebanese officials" were involved in the killing. The 25-page report refers to the "slow pace" of Syrian cooperation, saying "it is up to the Syrian authorities to be more forthcoming in order to make headway in a process that will be most probably a long one if it is to be judged against the pace of progress to date." The Mehlis investigation has so far identified 19 individuals as "suspects" in the killing. (Full story) Syria denies any involvement in the assassination and said Monday's bombing was timed to smear Damascus, Reuters reported. A statement carried by Syria's state news agency SANA denounced the "bombing that took place in the Mekalis suburb of Beirut ... whose timing is intended to direct accusations at Syria." Lebanese Druze leader and politician Walid Jumblatt told Arab satellite television channels that Tueni's killing was linked to the Mehlis report, and he suggested that Syria was behind it. Asked who was responsible, he told Al Arabiya television: "Gebran Tueni and An-Nahar were being threatened for a long time by the Syrian regime. ... we got the message. We will persevere," Reuters reported. Syria condemned Monday's attack and dismissed accusations it was involved. "Syria denounces this crime that claimed the lives of Lebanese, irrespective of their political stances," Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhl-Allah told LBC television. (Full story) In Beirut, news of Tueni's death triggered an outpouring of grief. Church bells tolled in the Christian quarter of Ashrafieh, Tueni's constituency, AP reported. At the offices of Tueni's newspaper in downtown Beirut, diplomats and other dignitaries arrived to offer their condolences to tearful staff as scores of people gathered outside. At the scene of the bombing, an elderly man wept, pounded his head and shouted: "My God, Gibran, you were the only one who told the truth!" CNN's Ben Wedeman and Journalist Anthony Mills contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| © 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
