September 19, 2007

Car Bomb Kills Anti-Syrian Pol In Beirut

UPDATED.

A car bomb in a Christian suburb of Beirut killed a prominent anti-Syrian lawmaker today, in what is now regarded as an assassination.

Antoine Ghanem, a member of the Christian Phalange party, died in the attack along with several others. BBC News and AP have confirmed at least six deaths in addition to Ghanem, and at least 20 people were wounded by the powerful car bomb. News footage showed several vehicles ripped apart and burning. Damage to nearby buildings extended to the top floors.

Ghanem's death marks the eighth assassination of an anti-Syrian political figure since 2005, and comes six days before a divisive presidential vote in the Parliament, AP reports. The BBC News reports that Ghanem "was a member of the governing 14 March Movement and his death has reduced the bloc's majority in the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies to just two." It is believed that pro-Syrian forces have been picking off political foes in that body to reduce the ruling party's majority.

Assassinations of anti-Syrian politicians in Lebanon have become de rigueur in recent years. The most famous victim, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, was killed in a massive car bombing on Feb. 14, 2005. That assassination was met with protest on the streets of Lebanon and by the West; a subsequent U.N. probe fingered Syria for involvement in Hariri's death.

Hariri and other anti-Syrian politicians have resisted Syria's outsized political influence in their country. Outrage over Hariri's death eventually forced Syria to withdraw its occupying troops from Lebanon in April 2005 -- 29 years after Syria helped end civil war there.

Syria, considered by the U.S. a state sponsor of terrorism, has resisted calls from the West and the U.N. to stay out of Lebanon's affairs. Anti-Syrian Lebanese political figures have been targeted in several bombings that remain unsolved. Equally mysterious are the circumstances surrounding an Israeli airstrike on Syria earlier this month.

The White House condemned the assassination. "There’s been a pattern. This would seem to fit into the pattern," press secretary Dana Perino said. Washington is a vocal backer of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in his struggle against the opposition pro-Syria party Hezbollah.

The U.N. Security Council also offered its disapproval. "The Security Council has condemned this new bombing, as every attempt to destabilize Lebanon in this very crucial period,'' said French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, who is president of the Council this month.

Reuters has a timeline of attacks on anti-Syrian lawmakers in Lebanon.

Posted at 2:12 PM
Posted to: Lebanon, Middle East, Syria, Terrorism
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