By Xinhua
Amman : Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday condemned the assassination of Lebanese lawmaker Antoine Ghanem in a car bombing in Beirut earlier in the day.
A palace statement quoted King Abdullah as saying that the assassination “is a hideous crime that targets the security and stability in Lebanon.”
The king “expressed heart-felt condolences in this ordeal” in a cable sent to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, according to the statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, Lebanese Christian lawmaker Antoine Ghanem was killed along with four others during an explosion in the Sin el-Fil district, a Christian suburb.
The explosion took place just a week before a parliament meeting due on Sept. 25, during which a new head of state will be elected to replace the incumbent President Emile Lahoud.
Lebanon has been rocked by a series of assassinations in recent years. In June, a similar blast in Beirut killed lawmaker Walid Eido and nine others.