A car bomb killed Anti-Syrian Christian leader Antoine Ghanem on Wednesday September 19, 2007.
It wasn’t the first assassination in Lebanon since the country declared freedom from Syria in 2005. There were several other brave Lebanese anti-Syrian politicians who were murdered before Antoine Ghanem:
Rafik Hariri -February 14, 2005
Samir Kassir -June 2, 2005
George Hawi -June 21, 2005
May Chidiac (attempted assassination) -September 25, 2005
Gebran Ghassan Tueni -December 12, 2005
Pierre Amin Gemayel -November 21, 2006
Walid Eido -June 13, 2007
Antoine Ghanem– September 19, 2007
But, that didn’t stop Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah from blaming Israel for the assassinations in Lebanon.
The Gulf Times reported:
BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has claimed that Israel was behind the assassination of Lebanese politicians and urged feuding parties to agree on who should become president in order to end the country’s crisis. “Israel is the one who is carrying out the killings in Lebanon. It wants to stir discord and internal fighting in Lebanon,” he said at a rally to commemorate Jerusalem Day in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday.
The Western-backed ruling majority in Lebanon has blamed Syria for attacks against anti-Damascus Lebanese figures since October 2004. Syria, the main backer of the Hezbollah-led Lebanese opposition, denies the accusations.
Anti-Syrian MP Antoine Ghanem was assassinated in Beirut last month, the eighth Damascus critic to be murdered in Lebanon since the February 2005 killing of ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri.
Syria has denied involvement in all those crimes.
“Israel is the one that does not want a consensus president and a government of national unity in Lebanon. Israel, backed by America, wants a president who would disarm the resistance,” he said.
Nasrallah has rejected demands by UN resolutions to disarm his group.
In response, Lebanese Democratic Gathering leader and MP Walid Jumblat,accused the Hizbullah chief of turning into a “spokesman for Syria and Iran.”
Ouch- Truth hurts!