Anti-Syrian journalist and lawmaker murdered in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon Dec 12, 2005 — Prominent Anti-Syrian journalist and lawmaker Gibran Tueni was killed by a car bomb Monday.

A previously unknown group calling itself "Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom of the Levant" claimed responsibility for the killing in a statement faxed to Reuters, saying the same fate awaited other opponents of "Arabism" in Lebanon. They claimed
Tueni was "spreading poisons and lies despite our repeated warnings to him."

Tueni was a major figure in the demonstrations in Lebanon that resulted in Syria's withdrawing its troops..although Syria still keeps a huge force of proxies and `intelligence agents' in Lebanon.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said he will ask the United Nations to set up a new inquiry into Tueni's slaying and previous bombings and to create an international tribunal to try suspects in Hariri's killing.

In other news, new evidence in the UN inquiry further implicates Syria in involvement in the assasination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.International News Article | Reuters.com

German Prosecutor Detlev Mehlis also said that Syria had been "slow" to cooperate with his investigation, that Syria had defied Security Council resolutions, that Damascus had burned some papers on Lebanon, and that the probe had identified 19 suspects which it did not name.