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Lebanon detains Syrian suspect in Tueini's killing December 27, 2005 Reuters Lebanon has detained a Syrian suspect in the killing of anti-Syrian lawmaker Gibran Tueini and newspaper magnate Gebran Tueni, judicial sources said on Tuesday. Military magistrate Rasheed Mizher ordered the arrest of Abdel-Qadir Abdel-Qadir, a scrap dealer, after questioning him and two other Syrians who have since been released, the sources said on condition of anonymity. The December 12 car bomb killing of Tueni was the third political murder in Lebanon since the February 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri plunged the country into months of turmoil. Abdel-Qadir was present near the site of Tueni's killing in a Christian suburb of Beirut and made mobile phone calls before and after the explosion, which also killed Tueni's driver and bodyguard, the sources added without elaborating. An ongoing U.N. investigation has implicated senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in Hariri's murder, echoing feelings among many Lebanese who also blame Damascus for the other political killings. Syria denies any role but Hariri's assassination sparked mass protests in Beirut that forced it to bow to world pressure and withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April after 29 years. Detlev Mehlis, the outgoing chief of the inquiry, said earlier this month Hariri's murder was probably linked to other politically-motivated crimes. The 48-year old Tueni was a fierce critic of Syria's grip on Lebanon, publishing his biting editorials on the front-page of his an-Nahar newspaper, Lebanon's leading daily. Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. ------------------------------------------------------- Thousands of Lebanese mourn anti-Syrian publisher By Lin Noueihed BEIRUT, Dec 14 (Reuters) Thousands of flag-waving Lebanese gathered in Beirut on Wednesday to lay to rest anti-Syrian newspaper publisher and legislator Gebran Tueni, whose assassination has been blamed on Damascus. Tueni was killed on Monday by a car bomb in a Christian suburb of Beirut in the third political murder since former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was assassinated in February. "All of Lebanon bids goodbye today to the martyr of free speech Gebran Tueni," said the frontpage headline of al-Mustaqbal newspaper, owned by the late Hariri. Anti-Syrian politicians have called for a large turnout to Tueni's funeral procession, due to wind through the streets of Beirut from a Greek Orthodox church in the heart of the capital to the family cemetery on the east side. Thousands of Lebanese turned out to the same church in June for the funeral of George Hawi, a former Communist Party leader turned critic of Syria's domination of Lebanon, killed by a bomb in his car. The 48-year-old Tueni was among the most fiery critics of Damascus, publishing his biting editorials on the front-page of his an-Nahar newspaper, Lebanon's leading daily. Many Lebanese politicians have blamed Syria for Tueni's murder, though Damascus has been quick to deny any involvement. "Can no one say 'no' in this country without being killed?" asked Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who campaigned for Syria's withdrawal, in a call to LBC television on Tuesday night. "I am threatened now ... If what they want is to silence every opposition voice then, then until when?" he said. RIFTS IN LEBANON Tueni's murder has caused serious political rifts in Lebanon, bringing the government to the verge of collapse. Five Shi'ite Muslim ministers loyal to Hizbollah and its Amal ally suspended participation in the government after it voted on Monday night to seek a U.N. inquiry into all the attacks that have rocked Lebanon over the past 14 months. A Christian minister close to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud also walked out of the session, which called for a tribunal with an "international character" to try suspects in the murder of Hariri. The killing of Hariri and 22 others in a truck bombing in Beirut sparked massive protests that forced Syria to bow to world pressure and withdraw its troops from its neighbour in April after 29 years. The head of a U.N. inquiry into Hariri's assassination told the Security Council on Tuesday that the investigation could take years unless Syria speeds up its cooperation. Detlev Mehlis has implicated Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the murder and identified six Syrians as suspects. The Security Council also considered a resolution that France, the United States and Britain are proposing to extend the Hariri probe, which ends on Thursday, for six months. The draft would expand the commission's mandate "to include investigations on the terrorist attacks perpetrated in Lebanon since Oct 1, 2004 at the discretion of the commission." ------------------------------------ Source: AP A car bomb Monday killed journalist and lawmaker Gibran Tueni, the latest in a string of assassinations of anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon. A previously unknown group claimed responsibility for the blast, but many quickly accused Damascus in the slaying. Syria denied being behind the blast, which came on the day that the U.N. Security Council was due to receive a U.N. inquiry's report into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in which Syrian officials have been implicated. Churchbells tolled and men wept in the street over the loss of the lead columnist and manager of Lebanon's most respected newspaper, An-Nahar. Tueni played a major role in the wave of protests that followed Hariri's death and helped force Syria to withdrawal its troops from Lebanon in April. "My God, Gibran, you were the only one who told the truth!" shouted one man, weeping at the scene of the bombing. A previously unknown group - "The Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom in al-Sham," Arabic for historic Greater Syria - claimed responsibility in a statement faxed to media outlets in Beirut. "We have broken the pen of Gibran Tueni and gagged his mouth forever, turning An-Nahar into a dark night," it said. "An-Nahar" is Arabic for day. "He who contemplates attacking those who have sacrificed everything for the sake of Arabism and Lebanon will face the same fate as ... Tueni." The statement's authenticity could not be independently confirmed. The blast hit Tueni, 48, a day after he returned from France, where he had been staying periodically for fear of assassination. A parked car packed with an estimated 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of TNT exploded as Tueni's motorcade passed in the hilly industrial suburb of Mkalles, flinging his armor-plated vehicle and several other cars into a ravine. Tueni, his driver and a passer-by were killed. Another 30 people were wounded in the bombing, which shattered nearby store windows and started a fire that destroyed at least 10 vehicles. Tueni is the fourth prominent anti-Syrian figure in Lebanon to have been killed in a string of 14 bombings in Lebanon that began with the Feb. 14 blast that killed Hariri and 20 other people. Also killed in the series of bombings were Samir Kassir, a prominent An-Nahar journalist, and anti-Syrian politician George Hawi. In September, a bomb maimed an anchorwoman of the leading anti-Syrian TV station LBC. Tueni, a Christian, had championed the U.N. investigation into Hariri's slaying, which has focused on Syrian officials and their allies in Lebanon. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called an emergency meeting of top security officials and the Cabinet. Even Tueni's political enemies, like the militant Hezbollah Shiite Muslim group, lauded him as "prominent journalist and well-known politician." Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, a frequent target of Tueni's verbal assaults, described the slain journalist as "one of the symbols of freedom in Lebanon." At the offices of An-Nahar, staff with tears in their eyes received diplomats and others who came to give their condolences. Several hundred students, many of them students, gathered outside the offices in downtown Beirut, waving Lebanese and their party flags. In the Christian quarter of Ashrafieh, Tueni's constituency, orthodox churches tolled their bells as his body was brought to a hospital. Leading Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt and Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, Tueni's uncle, blamed Syria for the bombing. Jumblatt said it was intended to silence those pushing to expose the assassins of Hariri. "God have mercy on Gibran and An-Nahar will remain the beacon for freedom," Jumblatt told LBC television. "This is a new terrorism message," he said of the bombing. Hamadeh threatened to withdraw from the Cabinet with two colleagues if the government did not demand a U.N. investigation into the continuing series of bombings. He said there must be an international tribunal to "investigate the continuing crimes of the Syrian regime." "May God have mercy on the latest of the martyrs for Lebanon's independence and sovereignty in the face of the dictatorial hegemony of (Syrian President) Bashar Assad," Hamadeh was quoted as saying by the official National News Agency. "We say it out loud: if (the Syrians) want it this way, we know how to respond," he added, without elaborating. Hamadeh himself survived with injuries a car bombing in October 2004 that also killed his driver. He blamed Syria. Syrian Information Minister Mehdi Dakhlallah denied his government was involved, telling LBC television: "Those who are behind this are the enemies of Lebanon." The U.S. Embassy condemned the "heinous act." In a statement, it said the "forces of opporession and tyranny have taken from the Lebanese people one of their greatest champions for liberty and freedom." Tueni's columns in An-Nahar often raised the ire of Syria. He was elected to parliament for the first time in the elections of May and June, when anti-Syrian politicians wrested the government away from Damascus' allies, who had dominated it during Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon. Detlev Mehlis, the head of the U.N. team investigating Hariri's slaying, presented his second report to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sunday. It was expected to be released to the press Monday after the Security Council has received it. Syria denies involvement in the killing of Hariri. It has waged a campaign to discredit the commission since an interim report in October accused the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence agencies of complicitiy. Tueni's grandfather, Gibran Tueni, founded An-Nahar. His father Ghassan Tueni is considered the dean of the Lebanese press, having turned the newspaper into an institution respected by friend and foe across the Arab world. Lebanese MP Jumblatt accuses Syria of killing Tueni DUBAI (Reuters) - Lebanese Druze leader and anti-Syrian MP Walid Jumblatt accused Syria on Monday of killing prominent Lebanese editor Gebran Tueni, who was also a staunch opponent of Damascus. Jumblatt told Al Jazeera television that Tueni's killing in a Beirut car bomb was linked to a U.N. probe by judge Detlev Mehlis into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri which implicates top Syrian officials. Asked if he was jumping the gun by accusing Syria, he said: "This is my reading of the situation. We have had enough killings, enough assassinations. He (Tueni) was targeted because he was the voice of freedom, him and others like him." "As the Mehlis report is presented to the Security Council, we got the message from the neighbouring security apparatus ... The president of this security apparatus said sanctions on Syria will destabilise the Middle East." He said that Tueni was killed by those who killed Hariri and anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir, who died in a car bomb attack in June. Kassir worked for Lebanon's leading An-Nahar newspaper, which was headed by Tueni. |
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