Beirut – A bomb ripped through a vocal anti-Syrian lawmaker’s car in the Lebanese capital Wednesday, killing him and nine other people in the latest assassination of a Lebanese opponent of Damascus.
The blast came days after the government began assembling an international tribunal, ordered by the United Nations, to try suspects in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut two years ago – a move strongly opposed by Syria and its allies in Lebanon.
The slain lawmaker, Walid Eido, was a prominent supporter of the tribunal and a close friend of Hariri’s. He is the seventh anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in the past two and a half years, starting with the February 2005 death of Hariri in a massive Beirut suicide car bombing. Many Lebanese have accused Syria of being behind the slayings, a claim Damascus denies.
Eido’s supporters quickly blamed Syria for Wednesday’s bomb attack. Hariri’s son, Saad Hariri, the leader of the anti- Syrian majority bloc in parliament, indirectly accused Damascus, saying “agencies of evil” seeking “Lebanon’s submission” carried out the blast.
Syria controlled Lebanon for 29 years until it was forced out after Hariri’s assassination, and its Lebanese opponents believe it is seeking to regain domination by plunging the country into chaos.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora declared a national day of mourning today for Eido and the other victims. He also called for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers and the international community to help in the investigation of the legislator’s assassination.
“Lebanon and the Lebanese will not submit to terrorism or intimidation. We will not surrender to terrorism, and we will triumph. Lebanon will survive,” Siniora said in a televised speech Wednesday night.
The Bush administration – a major Siniora ally – also condemned the bombing.
“We stand with the people of Lebanon and Prime Minister Siniora’s government as they battle extremists who are trying to derail Lebanon’s march to peace, prosperity and a lasting democracy,” Gordon Johndroe, the National Security Council spokesman, said in Washington.
A State Department spokesman couldn’t confirm if Washington saw Syria’s hand in the attack.
