Today a car bomb went off near Beirut, Lebanon killing lawmaker Antoine Ghanem of the Christian Phalange Party, his bodyguards and five bystanders instantly. Around nineteen others were injured. The lethal bomb also crushed nearby cars and buildings
The White House places the blame on Syria because of the number of political assassinations against those who have been working to move Syria out of Lebanese politics. There are speculations that this assassination has to do with the upcoming November presidential election and the very slight majority of March 14 (yes, this is a political party, named about the date of the Cedar Revolution, the coalition of anti-Syrian political parties and independents in Lebanon). March 14 now controls 67 out of the 128 seats in Parliament. To elect a president for sure, they must have a majority of 65 members. Naturally, many lawmakers have been very nervous and have been out of the country. Ghanem had just returned to Lebanon two days ago.
Ever since 2005 when former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed, there have been numerous political assassinations and attempted assassinations. Ghanem was the forth anti-Syrian lawmaker and the eighth leader assassinated.
Parliament will meet next week for the first time in almost a year.
4 comments:
Even though it sucks that people are bombing and killing each other all over the world, it sucks more that this isn't news to me. It's just another car bomb and another poitical leader getting killed before an upcoming election. This happens all the time now, and it doesn't really seem important, because now the Phalange party will just assassinate a member of the March 14 party and call it even.
Although what you say is harsh Benji, it is sadly true. It seems the news today is filled with those car bombings.
But I would like to also add some more information from a European newspaper, Le Monde. It was reported that nearly 40 people have been injured. Syria has made a statement claiming it a "criminal act" and fully support Lebanon's efforts to unite.
The remaining questions that are left unanswered are, "Is Syria being honest? Or are the words shocking but ignored like the car bombing on the nightly news?"
The lawmaker was part of the March 14 party and the Christian Phalange party. It's significant because of the number of people dying. It's widely known as the Syrian hit list because the deaths of these high profile people are known to be anti-Syrian by party association. I can't find the exact number of people who have been assassinated, but in an article in 2006 the Guardian listed 14 people.
I highly doubt that the March 14 party would assassinate any members of the opposing party. The country is in shambles without all this extra drama.
And I thought US politics were cutthroat...
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