Lebanese pro-government lawmaker Antoine Ghanem was assassinated in
a powerful explosion that ripped through his car in eastern
Beirut on
Wednesday, six days before a scheduled parliament session to elect
a new president.
A 40-kg strong car bomb explosion shattered Ghanem's black
Chevrolet Sedan as it drove in Sin el-Fil district, east of Beirut,
killing him and eight others, local Naharnet news website
reported.
Tongues of flame shot up from the wreckage of Ghanem's car and
at least eight other vehicles as firefighters combated the blaze
and ambulances evacuated at least 47 wounded to nearby hospitals,
the report added.
The 64-year-old Ghanem is a member of Lebanese parliament
belonging to the pro-government Christian Phalange Party, the same
party which assassinated Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel belonged
to.
After its meeting on Wednesday evening, the Phalange Party asked
for a general strike on Thursday to mourn Ghanem and announced that
his funeral will be held on Friday.
The explosion took place just six days before parliament is due
to meet on September 25 to elect a new head of state to replace the
pro-Syrian incumbent President Emile Lahoud, whose mandate expires
on November 23.
The assassination, which was condemned by various factions, rose
wide worry about the upcoming presidential election and the current
political crisis in Lebanon.
The presidential vote has caused widespread concern among the
Lebanese, fearing further disarrays and possible eruption of
violence if no successor is elected before Lahoud's term ends.
Lebanon is facing its most serious political crisis since the
end of the 1975-90 civil war, with the government led by Prime
Minister Fouad Seniora and the Hezbollah-led opposition locked in a
fierce power struggle.
In mid November last year, Lebanon plunged into political
deadlock when six pro-Syrian ministers resigned from the government
after the breakdown of talks over giving the opposition alliance
more authority.
Then the Lebanese opposition alliance launched an open-ended
sit-in in downtown Beirut from December to topple the Senior a
government.
The opposition declared the anti-Syrian cabinet illegitimate,
demanding early parliamentary elections and a new electoral
law.
The Seniora government, backed by the March 14 parliamentary
majority coalition, had rejected such calls and accused the
Hezbollah-led protest of trying to obstruct the creation of an
international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of
ex-premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes.
The country has been rocked by a series of blasts, which started
with the assassination attempt against Telecommunications Minister
Marwan Hamade on October 1, 2004. The latest was the killing of
another pro-government lawmaker Walid Eido in June.
(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2007)
