February 19, 2005
President Bush says the UnitedStates supports the international investigation that will take placeto identify the killers of Rafik Hariri. The former prime ministerof Lebanon died Monday in a powerful bomb explosion along a streetin Beirut. At least fourteen other people were also killed.
Recently Mister Hariri had opposed the large part that Syriatakes in Lebanese politics. He called for the withdrawal of Syriantroops. Syria has at least fourteen thousand troops in Lebanon.Syria borders Lebanon on the north and east.
Mister Hariri, a Sunni, was a very wealthy builder. He resignedas prime minister last October. He did so after Syria extended theterm of the Lebanese president. But Mister Hariri had been expectedto run in elections planned this May.
His family and the Lebanese political opposition link Syria tothe car bombing. Syria denies any involvement. President Basharal-Assad condemned the murders.
Lebanese President Emil Lahoud, a Christian allied with Syria,promised a full investigation. His government says it has asked forhelp from Swiss and other foreign experts.
On Wednesday, an estimated twohundred thousand people attended the funeral for Mister Hariri. Hisfamily told President Lahoud and cabinet members not to attend.Protesters shouted "Syria out!" The Beirut newspaper An-Nahar calledthe funeral "a huge vote for unity and sovereignty."
On Friday Lebanese opposition leaders called for a peaceful"uprising for independence." And Lebanon's tourism ministerresigned. He said the government was unable to solve what he calledthe "dangerous situation in the country."
On Thursday, President Bush said Syria must honor a UnitedNations Security Council resolution passed last year. Resolutionfifteen-fifty-nine calls for foreign troops to leave Lebanon. MisterBush described Syria as "out of step" with progress in the MiddleEast. Syria is not "moving with the democratic movement," in hiswords.
The United States recalled its ambassador to Syria, MargaretScobey, after the killing of Mister Hariri.
His murder comes after years of relative calm in Lebanon. Civilwar between Christians and Muslims began in nineteen seventy-five.An Arab force led by Syrian troops intervened in nineteenseventy-six in an effort to end the war. Later, Israel occupiedsouthern Lebanon, staying until two thousand. The civil war wascomplex and lasted fifteen years.
Syria and Lebanon reached a cooperation agreement in nineteenninety-one. Since the war, the Lebanese have kept a politicalbalance by dividing leadership positions among different religiousgroups.
Rafik Hariri was popular for his efforts to rebuild Lebanon afterthe war. There are worries that violence could return now that he isgone.
In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by JerilynWatson. I'm Doug Johnson.