FBI investigates Qassir assassination
Lebanon, Politics, 6/4/2005

News reports said that American investigators from the Federal Bureau for Investigation (FBI) visited the explosion sire which claimed the life of the opposition Lebanese journalist Samir Qassir in al-Asharefya area in the east of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

The reports said from Beirut that this step was made at the request of the Lebanese authorities and in full coordination with the ministry of the interior. The investigation team collected data from the site of the explosion for test and the team was surrounded by strong security measures.

The reports expected that permitting the FBI office taking part in disclosing the implications of the assassination might be an attempt to absorb the rage of the Lebanese opposition against the government.

The reports added that the Lebanese government asked France's support and that five members of French police specialized in criminal evidence and fighting terrorism will arrive within hours in Beirut to take part in the investigations.

In a telephone call with the UN secretary general the French President, Jacque Chirac called for a strong reaction from the international community to the assassination of Qassir.

Meantime, the Lebanese president Emil Lahoud expressed his hope that the international investigation committee in charge of investigating the assassination of the late Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri to take part in the new assassination crime.

Lahoud stressed that the Lebanese government will discuss with the UN the mechanism that should be embarked on to enable the international committee to investigate in this crime.

On the other hand, a diplomatic source explained that the expansion in the work of the committee to include the assassination of Qassir require a new resolution from the UN because the mission of the current phase is confined in UN resolution 1559 to the assassination of al-Hariri.

Previous Stories:
  Inter-Lebanese split over the assassination of Hariri   (6/3/2005)
  Syria denounces accusations on Lebanon explosion   (6/3/2005)
  International condemnation for al-Qassir assassination   (6/3/2005)
  Lahoud warns against sedition, opposition accuses him of killing Qassir   (6/3/2005)

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