Region | Lebanon
Lebanese MP assassinated
A prominent anti-Syrian columnist and Member of Parliament was yesterday assassinated in a car bomb attack on his convoy at a Beirut suburb a day after he returned from his hiding in France.
- Gulf News Report
- Published: 23:31 May 3, 2009
Dubai: A prominent anti-Syrian columnist and Member of Parliament was yesterday assassinated in a car bomb attack on his convoy at a Beirut suburb a day after he returned from his hiding in France.
The attack came hours after the out-going UN investigator Detlev Mehlis, inquiring into the murder of Lebanese former prime minister Rafik Hariri, submitted his second report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York.
The report said Syrian cooperation with its investigation into Hariri killing was slow and called on Damascus to arrest Syrian suspects. The report said it had identified 19 suspects but did not name them.
The car bomb attack on Lebanese lawmaker Jibran Tueni, 48, publisher of An-Nahar daily, also killed his driver and bodyguard.
Lebanese Leaders opposing Syria's 30-year influence in Lebanon accused Damascus of directly plotting and executing the assassination. Syria denied the charges.
Druze leader Walid Junblatt told Gulf News the party that killed Tueni was responsible for the series of assassinations and attempted murders in the past few months. However, Amal and Hezbollah, the two Shiite Syrian-allies, pointed fingers at foreign involvement in the crime, and accused Israel of working to destablise Lebanon and Syria.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he would ask the UN Security Council to look into the killing of Tueni.
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