Lebanese renowned journalist Samir al-Qassir assassinated
Lebanon, Politics, 6/2/2005

News reports in Beirut said that the Lebanese central security council called for an urgent meeting under the chairmanship if the Lebanese prime minister Najib Miqati in order to discuss the implications of the assassination of the prominent Lebanese journalists in the Lebanese daily al-Nahar Samir Qasir by bombing his car in al-Ahrafeyah area which is inhabited by a Christian majority to the east of Beirut.

The Lebanese political source strongly deplored the assassination of Qasir and described it as a crime., Upon news of the assassination several political figures visited the site of the explosion including the prime minister Najib Miqati and several ministers including the minister of the Interior Hassan al-Sabaa, the information minister Charles Rizq and the justice minister Khaled Qabbani.

In a statement at the site of the explosion to al-Jazeera TV, Miqati vowed to discover the criminals, noting that the incident is a clear message targeting two main elements in the country namely " security and freedom." He stressed that his government will not permit any one to violate security in the country, expressing that such " painful incident will not put conditions in the country backward..

The chairman of the Socialist progressive party Walid Junblat accused the Lebanese President Lahoud of the assassination saying that he presides over the "security regime remains." In a similar statement to al-Jazeera TV he called President Lahoud to resign and remove the "remains of the security forces leaders." However, al-Qasir was killed by a bomb explosion place in his car. news reports in Beirut said that the journalist was killed immediately as he started off his car.

The reports detailed the explosion causes simple material damages in the surrounding of the place, noting that the explosion targeted Qasir who is known for his opposition stances for the Syrian military presence and the policies of the former Lebanese government or what he used to describe the "police regime." The Lebanese army and the security forces were intensively deployed in the region following the explosion while scores of citizens in the area demonstrated deploring the assassination crime.

Al-Qasir also worked as a teacher for political sciences in Saint Joseph university in Beirut. He had several writings about Lebanon and the Arab world including "the war in Lebanon," and "the story of Beirut" which were published in 2003 and "a look into the Arab crisis issued in 2004.

The explosion came amid the Lebanese parliamentary elections which started on Sunday in Beirut and will continue until June 19. This explosion is considered the first of its kind since the beginning of the election process. Beirut witnessed in the past three months a series of explosions that inflicted few number of victims.

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