By Xinhua
Damascus : Syria on Wednesday strongly condemned a car bombing in eastern Beirut that killed a Christian lawmaker and several others, the official SANA news agency reported.
“This criminal act targets the efforts and endeavors exerted by Syria and others to achieve the Lebanese national accord,” an unnamed Syrian media official was quoted as saying, asserting Damascus’ keenness on security, stability and unity of neighboring Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, Lebanese Christian lawmaker Antoine Ghanem was killed along with four others during an explosion in the Sinel-Fil district, a Christian suburb.
The explosion was powerful as several cars were totally gutted and distorted and nearby buildings were also damaged to different extents.
Antoine Ghanem is a member of the Lebanese Christian Phalange party, to which the assassinated Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel also belonged.
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.