Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Blast kills Syria critic in Beirut
Associated Press
Published December 13, 2005
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Journalist and lawmaker Gibran Tueni, a relentless critic of Syria who spent months in France fearing assassination, was killed Monday in a car bombing, a day after returning to his homeland.
A previously unknown group claimed responsibility, but suspicion quickly settled on Syria.
The slaying silenced the blistering editorial voice of Tueni, the 48-year-old general manager of Lebanon's leading newspaper, An-Nahar , founded in 1933 by his grandfather.
His motorcade was attacked hours before the United Nations released a report on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Tueni was one of the hundreds of witnesses interviewed by chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis.
President Bush condemned the slaying as a murderous act "aimed at subjugating Lebanon to Syrian domination and silencing the Lebanese press." He insisted that Syria comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for an end to its interference in Lebanon "once and for all."
France indicated it would push ahead with efforts against Syria at the Security Council, which called Tueni an "outspoken symbol of freedom and the sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon."
A fax claiming responsibility was sent to news organizations by the Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom in al-Sham - Arabic for the Mediterranean region that includes Lebanon, Syria, Israel and the Palestinian areas.
"We have broken the pen of Gibran Tueni and gagged his mouth forever," it said.
Tueni returned from France on Sunday to attend a government ceremony honoring his father, Ghassan Tueni, 79, who was widely described as dean of the press corps in Lebanon.
A parked car packed with 88 pounds of TNT exploded as Tueni's motorcade passed in the industrial suburb of Mkalles. Tueni, his driver and a passer-by were killed. Thirty people were wounded in the bombing, which shattered store windows and incinerated at least 10 vehicles.
Syrian Information Minister Mehdi Dakhlallah denied his government was involved, telling LBC television: "Those who are behind this are the enemies of Lebanon."
Tueni is the fourth anti-Syrian figure in Lebanon killed in 14 bombings that began with the Feb. 14 blast that killed Hariri and 20 other people.
[Last modified December 13, 2005, 01:31:15]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
