By Xinhua
United Nations : The UN Security Council strongly condemned on Thursday the killing of Lebanese lawmaker Antoine Ghanem and four others in a car bomb attack on Wednesday in Beirut.
“The Security Council strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Beirut,” the 15-member body said in a statement.
“The Security Council expresses its deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and government of Lebanon,” it said.
“The Security Council reiterates its condemnation of all targeted assassinations of Lebanese leaders, including since October 2004, and demands an immediate end of the use of intimidation and violence against the representatives of the Lebanese people and institutions,” the statement said.
The council stressed that any attempt to destabilize Lebanon, including through political assassination or other terrorist acts, should not impede or subvert the constitutional process in Lebanon.
It also reiterated a call for “the holding of a free and fair presidential election in conformity with Lebanese constitutional norms and schedules and without any foreign interference, fully respecting the sovereignty of Lebanon.”
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 incumbent President Emile Lahoud.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday also condemned the assassination of the Lebanese lawmaker, saying he was “shocked by the brutal assassination.”
“Such acts of terrorism are aimed at undermining Lebanon’s stability and are unacceptable,” the UN chief said. “Lebanon has suffered far too many such attempts.”
In a letter to the UN chief on Wednesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora urged the world body to conduct a probe into the killing of Ghanem as part of the UN’s ongoing investigation into earlier cases in which other Lebanese political figures were assassinated.