Lebanonwire.com | Lebanon car bombing kills anti-Syrian politician

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June 21, 2005

Lebanon car bombing kills anti-Syrian politician
by Steve Kirby

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Anti-Damascus politician George Hawi was killed in a Beirut bomb blast Tuesday, hot on the heels of an opposition victory in Lebanon's parliamentary election that was set to turn the page on years of Syrian domination.

The attack came as UN investigators questioned the head of the presidential guard as part of their probe into the February killing of five-time premier Rafiq Hariri, whose son Saad led the anti-Syrian opposition to victory.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice charged Syria had contributed at least indirectly to the latest assassination but embatttled pro-Damascus President Emile Lahoud hit back at accusations of complicity, saying they were malicious.

Hawi, a 65-year-old former Communist party leader, was killed in his car close to his home in the working-class Wata Musaytbeh neighbourhood near the city centre, police said. The driver and a passer-by were wounded.

The bombing is likely to add to the burden on the new government following the opposition election victory that will usher in the first legislature not controlled by pro-Damascus factions since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Saad Hariri was quick to condemn the new bombing.

"This new terrorist attack is the latest in the spate of assassinations of politicians, intellectuals and patriots ... that are clearly aimed at shattering stability and making Lebanon look incapable of managing its own affairs," his office said.

He was referring to a string of bombings that has rocked the capital since his father's assassination in a massive seafront bomb blast blamed by the opposition on the security apparatus built up by Syria before its troop withdrawal in April.

Presidential guard chief Mustafa Hamdan, whose home and office were also searched by the UN team, is the only one of the six top officials accused by the opposition of complicity in Hariri's killing who still remains in office.

But Lahoud's office defended his commander and hit back at accusations of complicity in the killings that he said were motivated by "personal rancour."

The opposition issued a statement Tuesday night calling on the United Nations Security Council to expand its probe of Hariri's assassination to those that have followed, including the murder of a prominent anti-Syrian journalist earlier this month.

Hawi was killed as he was headed to meet another anti-Damascus politician to discuss the poll triumph of the opposition alliance.

Hariri called for the cancellation of all victory celebrations.

Security forces struggled to keep back the mournful crowds that formed at the scene within minutes of the explosion as the casualties were rushed to hospital.

Tuesday night, thousands of people held a candelight vigil in his memory near the site.

Rice, on her way to Europe from a Middle East swing, said she did not know who carried out the latest murder but pointed the finger at Damascus nonetheless.

"There is an atmosphere of instability (in Lebanon) as Syria's activities are part of that context and part of that atmosphere, and they need to knock it off," she said.

Her comments came despite a strong condemnation of the bombing from Damascus.

"Syria is saddened by the fact that these Lebanese figures are the target of attacks and assassinations and that Lebanon's security is coming under repeated fire from its enemies," said Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah.

For his part, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the killing and underscored support for the independence and sovereignty of Lebanon.

"The secretary general was appalled to learn of yet another assassination in Lebanon. He strongly condemns the murder," said Marie Okabe, a UN spokeswoman.

And Britain's Foreign Office asked Lebanese authorities to "mount full, thorough, and transparent investigations" to bring Hawi's killers to justice.

Hawi, a veteran of the civil war and like Rafiq Hariri an ally-turned-critic of Damascus, had joined Saad Hariri and Druze chief Walid Jumblatt in a national reconciliation process that produced the main opposition alliance.

Hariri's murder plunged Lebanon into political turmoil but ultimately forced the Syrian pullout.

The opposition alliance led by his son swept all 28 seats in Sunday's decisive final round of the four-stage elections, giving it an eight-seat majority in the 128-member parliament which is due to hold its first session next Tuesday.

At a victory press conference, Hariri had spoken of the "very high price" Lebanon had paid "to get our freedom".

He said it was too early to talk of becoming prime minister, saying he first wanted to hold talks with defeated rivals, but vowed to end what he said was widespread scepticism in Lebanon about the possibilities of real change.

"We have got to show people that we are not only here to talk," he said in front of a huge portrait of his slain father. "We want change, we want to see new faces, we don't want a programme that gets stuck in its wheels."

But the latest bloodshed highlighted the challenges ahead as he struggles to restore stability and confidence to a shrinking, heavily indebted economy and put relations with Syria on a new footing.