An explosion ripped through a residential neighborhood of mostly Christian east Beirut’s Ashrafiyeh district on Thursday, witnesses told AFP. 
The blast, which killed a prominent journalist, occurred near Ashrafiyeh's ABC shopping mall. The victim was identified as Samir Kassir, 45, an historian and journalist from the Beirut-based An-Nahar newspaper. An unidentified woman was also injured in the blast.
Kassir was known as a harsh critic of Lebanon's security services and Syria. He was also considered a a close ally of ex-premier, Rafic al Hariri, who was assassinated in February.
Shortly after the explosion, Lebanon's premier Najib Mikati arrived in the scene and looked at Kassir's body. "Every time Lebanon takes a step forward, there are those who want to undermine this country," Mikati said, according to The Associated Press.
On his part, Robert Ménard, the secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders, on Thursday voiced dismay at the murder of columnist and historian Samir Kassir of the Beirut-based An-Nahar newspaper, who was killed when his car blew up Thursday morning in the Lebanese capital.
"We are in a complete state of shock after Samir Kassir's cowardly murder," Ménard said. "We have lost a friend, and press freedom has lost a passionate defender."
On its part, the Lebanes opposition called for the resignation of President Emile Lahoud, an ally of Damascus, after the killing of Kassir. The opposition "demands by democratic means the resignation of the president as he is the effective leader of the security/intelligence regime," said Elias Atallah, a senior official in the Democratic Left movement, according to AlJazeera.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
