Security Council condemns attack on Lebanese journalist

The Security Council has strongly condemned the attempted assassination of May Chidiac, a prominent Lebanese journalist, near Beirut this past Sunday, only a few days after another terrorist attack in the city killed one person and injured several others.

In a press statement read out yesterday by its President for September, Ambassador Lauro Baja of the Philippines, the council welcomed the determination of the Lebanese Government to bring to justice “the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of this and other terrorist attacks,” encouraging Member States to provide any assistance requested in that context.

“Those responsible for such crimes will not be permitted to jeopardize the stability, sovereignty, democracy and national unity of Lebanon,” Council members warned.

Immediately following the attack, Secretary-General Kofi Annan also issued a condemnation, saying that such callous acts “now form a pattern of onslaught not only against Lebanese citizens but also against the principles of a democratic, open society, which, most importantly, includes the freedom of the press.”

Last week, a group of interested countries met at the United Nations to support the democratic reform process in the country that followed this year’s assassination of a former prime minister, the withdrawal of Syrian troops and elections.