About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

POPULAR COLUMNIST ASSASSINATED

IFEX members are calling for justice in the murder of prominent Lebanese columnist Samir Kassir, who was killed in a car bombing outside his home in Beirut on 2 June 2005.

Kassir died instantly when a bomb placed under his car exploded as he left for work. The journalist wrote a popular and influential column in the daily newspaper "Al-Nahar", and was fiercely critical of Syria and its 29-year military and political presence in Lebanon. He was threatened and harassed for his outspoken writing.

Kassir was also a university lecturer and founder of the Democratic Left movement, which helped mobilise huge demonstrations against Syria in March. In April, Syria began withdrawing its troops from Lebanon.

The International Press Institute (IPI), The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the murder, as did Lebanese journalists, who staged a silent rally on 3 June to protest Kassir's assassination. Lebanese authorities say they will launch an investigation and seek assistance from French police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The assassination came four days after the start of the country?s parliamentary elections, which run until 19 June. In his last column, which appeared on "An-Nahar's" front page on 27 May, Kassir criticized Syria's lack of desire to enact rapid change, saying: "Reform for the [ruling] Ba'athists does not mean accepting opposing views. The huge regional changes from Iraq to Lebanon only drive them [the Ba'athists] to warn of US dangers without thinking for a minute of the best ways to prevent this danger."

Visit these links:
- IPI: http://tinyurl.com/dsvqb
- IFJ: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3169&Language=EN
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Lebanon02june05na.html
- RSF:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13984
- Hundreds Mourn Kassir: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=820606
- A Thorn in Syria's Side: http://tinyurl.com/bmxjp
- Report on Press Freedom in Libya: http://www.cpj.org/attacks04/mideast04/lebanon.html