Slain Journalist Is Mourned At Funeral in Lebanon

Published by The Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2005

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Throwing rose petals and waving red, white and green Lebanese flags, hundreds of mourners lined the streets of central Beirut Saturday for the funeral procession of an anti-Syrian journalist, amid calls for an international investigation into his death.

Samir Kassir, a 45-year-old newspaper columnist, was killed Thursday by a bomb that exploded under his car in the Christian Beirut neighborhood of Ashrafieh. On Saturday, he was laid to rest in St. Mitr Cemetery near where he died.

Lebanon's opposition, which blamed Syria and its local allies for the killing, asked government officials not to attend the funeral.

More than 2,000 people watched as Kassir's coffin was carried from the offices of his newspaper, An-Nahar, in Beirut's downtown Martyrs' Square, by pallbearers including the newspaper's director-general, Gibran Tueini. Mourners threw rose petals on the coffin as it made its way to nearby St. George's Greek Orthodox church for Kassir's funeral.

The funeral was attended by several opposition leaders, including Walid Jumblatt, Amin Gemayel and Saad Hariri, son and heir of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed by a huge car bomb in Beirut on Feb. 14.

Kassir's wife, Giselle Khoury, and daughters Layan and Maysa wept silently in front of his coffin during the funeral mass. Ms. Khoury, a journalist with Al-Arabiya television, had demanded an international investigation into the death of her husband, who held French and Lebanese citizenship.

"His pen will be the pen that we will continue to write with," said Nayla Tueini, an An-Nahar journalist and daughter of the daily's director-general. "Our mission is to follow Samir's path."

After the funeral prayers, young members of Kassir's Democratic Left Movement carried the coffin outside the church chanting "Samir, we are your dream." Hundreds of people marched behind the coffin as it was carried to the cemetery for burial.

Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition, which has demanded for months that pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud resign, called for demonstrators to gather near the presidential palace on Monday.

Opposition leader Elias Atallah said the protesters would lay a wreath "that clearly points to the direct responsibility of this security regime."

Mr. Lahoud has condemned the killing of Mr. Kassir, but the opposition was unimpressed. One of the placards carried during the funeral read: "Samir's martyrdom is one of Emile Lahoud's miracles."

Syria pulled all its troops out of Lebanon in April after three decades, and Lebanon is in the midst of a four-round parliamentary election that the anti-Syrian opposition hopes will end Damascus's control of the legislature.

Voting takes place Sunday in southern Lebanon as part of they elections, which run through June 19.

European parliamentarians Jose Ignacio Salafranca and Carlos Carnero, both members of a European mission to monitor Lebanon's elections, strongly condemned Kassir's killing. In a statement, they said the assassination was an attack against the freedom of speech of the Lebanese people, especially against the background of the parliamentary elections being held.

On Friday, some 200 journalists and politicians -- many holding black pens to symbolize freedom of expression -- stood for an hour in Martyrs' Square in silent tribute to Mr. Kassir, as bells tolled in nearby churches.

Opposition spokesmen blamed Syria for the assassination -- a charge Syria strongly denied -- and accused Damascus of continuing to interfere in Lebanon's politics.

Justice Minister Khaled Kabbani on Saturday appointed Judge Sami Sidki to investigate Kassir's killing, but there is widespread skepticism in Lebanon about the state's ability to investigate political crimes.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents are already assisting Lebanon's investigation into Kassir's assassination, Lebanese Justice Ministry officials said Friday. Five French investigators arrived in Beirut Saturday to assist with the inquiry, airport officials said.

Meanwhile, a visiting U.S. Senator met Saturday with Messrs. Lahoud and Hariri. Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma, expressed his country's readiness to help Lebanon in various fields, Hariri's office said in a statement.



Volume 7 Number 23 - Tuesday, June 7th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY