Thursday, December 24, 2009 BEIRUT: Security officials say police have detained a man suspected of shooting this week at a bus heading from northern Lebanon to neighboring Syria.Monday's shooting left one Syrian passenger dead and raised concerns about the timing — coming just days after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's highly charged visit to Syria.The officials say the suspect, identified as Shawki al-Nazer, had argued in the past with the bus driver. He opened fire on the bus from a nearby rooftop.The officials said on Wednesday the suspect had no political motive. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.Hariri has blamed Damascus for the 2005 assassination of his father. Syria denies involvement.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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