MIDDLE EAST:A car bomb killed an anti-Syrian lawmaker and at least seven other people in Beirut yesterday, less than a week before Lebanon's parliament was due to elect a new president.
Antoine Ghanem of the Christian Phalange party died in a Christian district of the capital in an attack his allies blamed on Damascus. Syria condemned the killing. Mr Ghanem was the seventh anti-Syrian figure to be killed in Lebanon since the February 14th, 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.
"Every two or three months we are being targeted," telecommunications minister Marwan Hamadeh, a leading member of the governing coalition who survived an assassination attempt in 2004, told Reuters.
At least 19 other people were wounded by the bomb in the area of Sin el-Fil. Several cars were set ablaze and rescue workers carried bodies from the scene.
Mr Ghanem (64) was a member of the anti-Syrian governing coalition, which has been locked in a power struggle since November with factions backed by Damascus, including Shia Muslim group Hezbollah.
"The killer is one, the criminal is one and the butcher is one," said Saad al-Hariri, son and political heir of the former prime minister, blaming Syria for killing Mr Ghanem, his father and other allies. Damascus has consistently denied involvement.
The US condemned the attack. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said there had been a pattern of killings in the past few years of people who "sought to end Syria's interference in Lebanon's internal affairs".
The latest attack appears to be part of an ongoing destabilisation campaign as Mr Ghanem's assassination reduced the coalition to 68 seats in the 128-seat parliament, which is due to convene on September 25th to elect a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud. "The Syrian regime is exerting its terrorist skills at the expense of the Lebanese majority," said Mr Hamadeh.
The opposition wants a compromise candidate to be agreed before the presidential vote goes ahead and anti-Syrian leader Hariri has also stressed the need for a compromise.
The majority's main candidate is former MP Nassib Lahoud while the opposition's favourite is the leader of the largest Christian bloc in parliament, Michel Aoun.
Lebanese political analyst Oussama Safa said : "I think this is the beginning of destabilisation campaign the closer we get to an election date." - (Reuters)