SYRIA: Michael Jansen reports from Beirut on the latest assassination linked to Syria
Lebanon was plunged into deep depression yesterday when prominent Christian legislator and editor of an-Nahar Beirut's leading newspaper, Gibran Tueni, was killed by a massive car bomb.
Tueni's assassination took place only nine hours after Detlev Mehlis, head of the UN team investigating last February's murder of former premier Rafik Hariri, presented his final report to UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
In the report, which is set to be discussed today by the Security Council, Mehlis says Syrian co-operation with its investigation into the killing was slow and he called on Damascus to arrest Syrian suspects.
"Given that its substantive lines of inquiry are far from being completed, and given the slow pace with which the Syrian authorities are beginning to discharge their commitments . . . the commission recommends that there be such an extension and for a minimum period of six months," it said in a copy of the report obtained by Reuters in Beirut.
"Syria must detain those Syrian officials or individuals whom the commission considers as suspected of involvement in the planning, sponsoring, organising or perpetrating of this terrorist act, and make them fully available to the commission."
The report said it had identified 19 suspects but did not name them. It said five Syrian officials questioned by UN investigators in Vienna this month were suspects.Statements made by two of the Syrian suspects "indicated that all Syrian intelligence documents concerning Lebanon had been burned".
Tueni (48), his bodyguard and a bystander, were killed and 30 wounded when the car, laden with 125 kilos of explosives, was detonated as his convoy drove down a narrow winding road on a hillside in the Mkalles industrial estate east of Beirut. The blast set alight tinder dry pine trees and scrub and blew out windows in homes and shops in the vicinity.
A previously unknown group calling itself the "Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom in [ Greater] Syria," claimed the bombing in a communique which accused Tueni of using his pen to "spread poison" against Damascus.
He was one of the main instigators of popular protests against Hariri's murder, which, combined with pressure from the US, Britain and France, compelled Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon last April after 29 years.
Tueni's uncle, telecommunications minister Marwan Hamadeh, and Walid Jumblatt, a deputy who heads the Druze community, blamed Syria for the bombing. Damascus denied the charge. Jumblatt said the murder was meant to silence a voice calling for the exposure of those responsible for Hariri's death.
Jumblatt asserted: "The terrorist message has come to us," referring to a statement made on Sunday by Syrian president Bashar Assad to the effect that UN sanctions against his country could destabilise the region and harm the whole world.
Tueni was the victim of the 13th bomb since October last year when Hamadeh was seriously injured by a device which killed his bodyguard.
Hamadeh has repeatedly claimed he was targeted by Syria because he opposed the extension for three years of the term in office of President Emile Lahoud, a close ally of Damascus.
As news of Tueni's assassination spread, several hundred university students gathered in front of an-Nahar's tall glass-faced building in the commercial heart of the capital.
They brandished Lebanese and party flags and shouted slogans condemning Syria.
At the back of the building, a constant stream of gleaming cars dropped off legislators, businessmen, and other prominent figures paying condolences.
Tueni's octogenarian father, Ghassan Tueni, founder of the daily and a former minister, arrived from Paris to receive mourners.
Independent Lebanese politicians hesitate to blame Damascus for Tueni's murder and call for the investigation of Hariri's death to be finalised as soon as possible.
"We must be a little bit careful about jumping to conclusions and making accusations," Fouad Makhzoumi, the head of the National Dialogue Party, said.
He said it was expected the Mehlis report will confirm Syrian involvement in the Hariri killing. "If there is evidence, it's about time that it should be presented properly and finish with [ the investigation] so we know who are the culprits."
Once the accused are known, he said they should be sent to trial as quickly as possible.
He observed that since Hariri's death "no action has been taken on the Lebanese front" to improve the economic situation or provide jobs and healthcare for the Lebanese people. "This has put the whole country into a standstill. We are today in a political coma . . . complete paralysis."
He said there were a number of political players who had interests in "complicating the situation as it is today", including Syria and various Lebanese factions.
He warned against imposing sanctions against Syria as a country because the Syrian people would suffer, as did the people of Iraq under the embargo initiated in 1990 after ousted president Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.