Anti-Syrian MP killed in Beirut bombing blamed on Damascus
Anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido, his eldest son Khaled and eight other people were
killed on Wednesday in a bomb blast near his Beirut beach club that the
ruling majority in parliament blamed on Damascus.
Eido, 65, the Sunni chairman of parliament's defence committee, was a member
of the Future Movement of MP Saad Hariri, whose father and former premier
Rafiq Hariri was assassinated in a similar seafront blast more than two
years ago.
The attack in the Manara area of west Beirut, in which police said a
bomb-rigged car was detonated by remote control, was condemned by Washington
which backs the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, a Hariri ally.
"The United States deplores this latest attack in Beirut that led to the
death of a respected member of parliament, Walid Eido and his son," national
security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
Saad Hariri blamed Syria and urged the Arab League to "boycott the terrorist
regime" targeting his country. "It is the same fingers which killed Rafiq
Hariri," he said.
At the scene of the bombing, pieces of flesh and pools of blood stained the
ground as relief workers took the 11 people wounded to hospital and treated
passers-by for shock, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.
The powerful explosion hurled the body of one victim onto a nearby football
pitch.
Two footballers from the Nejmeh Club, one of Lebanon's top sides, were among
those killed, club official Assaad Siblini told AFP. The two were mowed down
as they left the pitch.
Windows shattered in homes and hotels within a radius of several hundred
metres (yards) from the blast. Troops cordoned off the area which has a
number of popular cafes and beaches, including the Lebanese army's beach
club.
People were seen rushing to the beaches and cafes, calling out the names of
missing relatives and friends.
Eido, a near-daily swimmer and card-player at the Sporting Club near the
scene, became the third member of Lebanon's parliamentary majority to be
killed in the past two years.
He and his entourage were in a convoy of cars and under heavy protection
when the attack took place, in the first political murder since industry
minister Pierre Gemayel was gunned down in November.
The latest killing came amid a deadly showdown in north Lebanon between the
army and Islamists in a Palestinian refugee camp. It follows a string of
bomb and grenade attacks that have now killed 12 people and wounded dozens
more.
Immediately after news broke of the fresh attack, dozens of angry youths
closed the road near Ido's home in the Verdun area of mainly Muslim west
Beirut by burning tyres.
Siniora, meanwhile, telephoned several Arab leaders to call for an urgent
meeting of Arab foreign ministers, a government official said.
Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamadeh said the killing of Eido was part
of a "physical liquidation" campaign by Damascus that has now left the
anti-Syrian camp with a slim six-seat majority in parliament.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner condemned the murder as
an "odious and cowardly crime," adding that "those responsible must be
caught and punished."
France has invited leaders of all Lebanon's political groups for informal
talks in Paris later this month in an effort to heal a longstanding
political crisis in Beirut.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Ido's killing was a "cowardly
act."
Eido was president of the Beirut appeals court before becoming an active
member of Rafiq Hariri's parliamentary bloc in 2000. After Hariri's
assassination, Eido joined Saad Hariri.
Syria was forced to end 29 years of military domination of Lebanon in April
2005 after it was widely accused of the Hariri assassination, despite its
repeated denials.
Damascus continues to wield considerable clout in Lebanon, where a standoff
between the Syrian-backed opposition and the Western-backed government has
paralysed politics for seven months.
Meanwhile, two Lebanese soldiers were killed on Wednesday by sniper fire
from inside Nahr al-Bared camp, the site of the deadliest fighting in
decades that has ignited fears about wider civil strife.
The latest deaths brought to 130 the number of people killed, including 63
soldiers and 50 militants of Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam, since
fighting broke out in the camp and nearby northern port city of Tripoli on
May 20.
About 180 more refugees escaped on Wednesday from Nahr al-Bared where 3,000
civilians are thought to remain stranded in increasingly desperate
conditions.
Members of Lebanon's ruling majority have pointed the finger at Syria over
the fighting, which briefly spread to the refugee camp of Ain al-Helweh in
south Lebanon, as well as for the Beirut bombings.
killed on Wednesday in a bomb blast near his Beirut beach club that the
ruling majority in parliament blamed on Damascus.
Eido, 65, the Sunni chairman of parliament's defence committee, was a member
of the Future Movement of MP Saad Hariri, whose father and former premier
Rafiq Hariri was assassinated in a similar seafront blast more than two
years ago.
The attack in the Manara area of west Beirut, in which police said a
bomb-rigged car was detonated by remote control, was condemned by Washington
which backs the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, a Hariri ally.
"The United States deplores this latest attack in Beirut that led to the
death of a respected member of parliament, Walid Eido and his son," national
security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
Saad Hariri blamed Syria and urged the Arab League to "boycott the terrorist
regime" targeting his country. "It is the same fingers which killed Rafiq
Hariri," he said.
At the scene of the bombing, pieces of flesh and pools of blood stained the
ground as relief workers took the 11 people wounded to hospital and treated
passers-by for shock, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.
The powerful explosion hurled the body of one victim onto a nearby football
pitch.
Two footballers from the Nejmeh Club, one of Lebanon's top sides, were among
those killed, club official Assaad Siblini told AFP. The two were mowed down
as they left the pitch.
Windows shattered in homes and hotels within a radius of several hundred
metres (yards) from the blast. Troops cordoned off the area which has a
number of popular cafes and beaches, including the Lebanese army's beach
club.
People were seen rushing to the beaches and cafes, calling out the names of
missing relatives and friends.
Eido, a near-daily swimmer and card-player at the Sporting Club near the
scene, became the third member of Lebanon's parliamentary majority to be
killed in the past two years.
He and his entourage were in a convoy of cars and under heavy protection
when the attack took place, in the first political murder since industry
minister Pierre Gemayel was gunned down in November.
The latest killing came amid a deadly showdown in north Lebanon between the
army and Islamists in a Palestinian refugee camp. It follows a string of
bomb and grenade attacks that have now killed 12 people and wounded dozens
more.
Immediately after news broke of the fresh attack, dozens of angry youths
closed the road near Ido's home in the Verdun area of mainly Muslim west
Beirut by burning tyres.
Siniora, meanwhile, telephoned several Arab leaders to call for an urgent
meeting of Arab foreign ministers, a government official said.
Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamadeh said the killing of Eido was part
of a "physical liquidation" campaign by Damascus that has now left the
anti-Syrian camp with a slim six-seat majority in parliament.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner condemned the murder as
an "odious and cowardly crime," adding that "those responsible must be
caught and punished."
France has invited leaders of all Lebanon's political groups for informal
talks in Paris later this month in an effort to heal a longstanding
political crisis in Beirut.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Ido's killing was a "cowardly
act."
Eido was president of the Beirut appeals court before becoming an active
member of Rafiq Hariri's parliamentary bloc in 2000. After Hariri's
assassination, Eido joined Saad Hariri.
Syria was forced to end 29 years of military domination of Lebanon in April
2005 after it was widely accused of the Hariri assassination, despite its
repeated denials.
Damascus continues to wield considerable clout in Lebanon, where a standoff
between the Syrian-backed opposition and the Western-backed government has
paralysed politics for seven months.
Meanwhile, two Lebanese soldiers were killed on Wednesday by sniper fire
from inside Nahr al-Bared camp, the site of the deadliest fighting in
decades that has ignited fears about wider civil strife.
The latest deaths brought to 130 the number of people killed, including 63
soldiers and 50 militants of Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam, since
fighting broke out in the camp and nearby northern port city of Tripoli on
May 20.
About 180 more refugees escaped on Wednesday from Nahr al-Bared where 3,000
civilians are thought to remain stranded in increasingly desperate
conditions.
Members of Lebanon's ruling majority have pointed the finger at Syria over
the fighting, which briefly spread to the refugee camp of Ain al-Helweh in
south Lebanon, as well as for the Beirut bombings.
source: AFP
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