| Lebanon's Lahoud says
won't quit WASHINGTON - Lebanese President
Emile Lahoud, who most of his parliament wants to resign, said Sunday he will remain in
his post despite accusations he covered up assassinations.
"I'm not resigning," he told CNN's "Late Edition."
"I'm staying until the end of my term. And I can tell you, I was elected by the
Lebanese parliament," he said.
On Thursday, Lebanon's new parliamentary majority called for Lahoud to resign, accusing
him of covering up for a series of political assassinations targeting anti-Syrian figures.
"There is a fact-finding mission by the UN" examining Syria's thoroughness in
withdrawing from Lebanon, he said. "They will be reporting in two weeks."
"All I know myself is that all the Syrians have withdrawn, with their intelligence,
and now there is nobody of the Syrians" remaining in Lebanon.
Anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians, who make up the majority in parliament after elections
which ended last Sunday, called on the United Nations to investigate the assassinations
that have taken place in Lebanon since Lahoud's mandate was extended in September at
Syria's insistence.
The new guard was formed after the elections ushered in the first legislature not
controlled by pro-Damascus factions since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
On Tuesday, Communist leader Georges Hawi was killed by a car bomb.
Anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir was killed when his car exploded on June 2, and former
prime minister Rafiq Hariri was assassinated in a February attack on the Beirut seafront. |