Assyrian Democratic Organization ADO
BEIRUT(Lebanon) – CCN — A member of the Lebanese parliament was killed in an explosion Wednesday outside a Beirut military sports club in what hospital sources called an assassination.
Lawmaker Walid Eido, known as a foe of Syrian involvement in Lebanon, his son, Khalid, and two of his bodyguards were killed, Lebanese media reports said. At least six other people died and 11 were wounded in the explosion, believed to be from a car bomb, in the seaside neighborhood of Manara, according to Lebanese security sources.
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, an outspoken critic of Syria, blamed Eido’s killing on Damascus, calling it an attempt to reduce the anti-Syrian majority in the Lebanese government. “With this bunch of assassins in Damascus, they don’t care about international justice,” Jumblatt told CNN International. Eido, a constitutional expert, was a member of a political bloc led by Saad Hariri, the son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, whose assassination two years ago sparked widespread protests that led to the ouster of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Eido was a vocal supporter of the U.N. tribunal investigating Hariri’s killing.
The U.N. Security Council approved the tribunal earlier this month. U.N. investigators concluded last year that Hariri’s death may be linked to high-ranking Syrian officials. Syria has denied any involvement in the assassination and said the tribunal is a violation of its sovereignty. Since Hariri’s February 2005 killing, several other anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians have been assassinated.
“If the recent history is any example, this act of terror is only going to serve to strengthen the resolve of those people who are on the front lines of Lebanese democracy,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Sean McCormack said in Washington. The impact of Wednesday’s blast shattered the windows of nearby buildings, while bystanders sustained injuries from the shrapnel. CNN’s Brent Sadler witnessed wounded people being carried out of one building.
The blast happened near a military sports club and a side street that leads to several restaurants. Sadler said two vehicles were engulfed in flames, and the explosion had all the hallmarks of a bombing attack. Many of the off-duty soldiers, still wearing their workout clothes, rushed to the scene trying to calm people down.
Video footage also showed Lebanese forces trying to control the crowds. As many as six explosions, many in the capital city, have rocked parts of Lebanon over the past month. Last week, a large explosion struck Zouk Mosbeh, a predominantly Christian neighborhood north of Beirut, killing one person and wounding four. Sadler said he felt the blast during an interview with a shopkeeper.
They were discussing when the next bomb could strike Beirut. “The Lebanese man I’ve known for a long, long time said, ‘Look, I think one could happen at any moment,’ ” Sadler said. “He said those very words when that explosion really shook his shop.”
