Senior Officials Denounce Assassination of Shatah, Describe him as 'Man of Reason'

Senior officials denounced on Friday the assassination of former Finance Minsiter and adviser of ex-PM Saad Hariri, Mohammed Shatah, and several others in an explosion in Starco area in downtown Beirut.

President Michel Suleiman stressed that the “the coward crime will only make the Lebanese more determined to preserve their country.”

Suleiman expressed regret that innocent people were also targeted, calling for solidarity among the Lebanese “to form a new cabinet that can assume its national responsibilities at this stage.”

“Everyone should assume his responsibility as history will not have mercy on anyone.”

“Once again terrorism hits Lebanon and its future and not only al-Mustaqbal movement through the assassination of Shatah, at a time were political efforts multiplied to form a cabinet,” Speaker Nabih Berri said in a press release, denouncing the crime.

He pointed out that the assassination “aims at keeping Lebanon tensed.”

“The crime is a plot set to turn Lebanon into a scene to settle scores and an attempt to incite sedition among the country's sects,” Berri, who is head of AMAL movement, said.

He also contacted Hariri and head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora to offer his condolences.

“The assassination targeted a moderate figure who believed in dialogue, logic, the voice of reason and the right of having different points of views,” Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati said in a statement issued by his press office.

The caretaker PM also condemned all the acts that only lead to further violence and killings, considering that “it only inflict farther chaos and damages to the nation.”

“The misery must end and Lebanon and its people should live in peace,” Miqati said.

The caretaker PM cut short on Friday his family vacation to return to Lebanon after news of Shatah's assassination broke out.

The statement pointed out that Miqati discussed with Suleiman in a telephone conversation the developments and the steps that should be take.

For his part, PM-designate Tammam Salam condemned the assassination, describing it as a “terrorist act that aims at destabilizing the country and inciting sedition among its people.”

Salam said that the assassination recalls the images of previous blasts that targeted prominent politicians in recent years.

“Lebanon remains a target for a conspiracy that aims at shaking its national unity,” the official added.

Salam called on security agencies to exert efforts to unveil the culprits and punish them.

“Those who carried out this terror crime exploited the fragile security situation and the political paralysis... Which should prompt the formation a national unity cabinet,” Salam added.

He offered his condolences to Suleiman, Hariri and Saniora in separate telephone conversations.