Re: Lebanon votes in landmark poll
[quote=“Ma Mooli”]
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No, Lethal is opposing Syria:
Syria accused after bomb kills journalist Kassir
Lebanese opposition blames Damascus and calls for Lahoud to resign over death of anti-Syrian writer
By Nayla Assaf
Daily Star staff
Friday, June 03, 2005
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s opposition blamed “Syria and its allies” for the killing of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir, one of the Assad regime’s most vocal critics who was murdered in a car bomb while leaving his home. The United States also condemned Kassir’s assassination and hinted Syrian involvement. U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman said: “We look at what he has been writing for years on the front page of An-Nahar and we know who his enemies must be.”
The assassination comes in the middle of Lebanon’s first parliamentary elections being held free of Syrian control in almost 30 years, and only one month after Syria, under pressure form the international community, withdrew its troops from the country.
Security sources said Kassir was killed shortly before 11:00 a.m. when his light grey Alfa Romeo exploded seconds after he got into the car.
The sources estimate that half a kilogram of TNT had been planted under Kassir’s car seat. They also said the explosion was triggered by remote control.
Kassir’s body lay slumped to one side inside the blasted car wreck. Kassir, 45, wrote a regular front-page column in Lebanon’s leading An-Nahar newspaper known for its anti-Syrian stance.
He has also published four books, two of which criticize Syria’s role in Lebanon and the oppression of public freedoms in Damascus.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=15624*