SSNP Slams Saudi Report: It is Aimed at Covering up Real Criminals
The Syrian Social National Party condemned on Wednesday a Saudi report claiming that the party was behind the assassination of former Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel and attempted assassination of journalist May Chidiac.
It said in a statement: “The report is baseless. It should have investigated the facts by the concerned Lebanese judicial sides.”
“This story is part of a suspicious campaign aimed at defaming members of the SSNP and tarnishing its image before the public,” it added.
“The party is being victimized because of its history of struggle against Lebanon and the ummah’s enemies,” declared the statement.
“Al-Bilad’s report is worthless and its timing coincides with the escalatory campaign against the Resistance forces,” it stressed.
The party condemned Gemayel’s assassination and Chidiac’s attack, emphasizing the need to uncover the criminals and achieve justice.
Furthermore, the SSNP noted that accusing it of the crimes is an attempt to cover up the actions of the real perpetrators.
The party added that it reserves the right to pursue legal action against the newspaper.
On Tuesday, the Saudi al-Bilad newspaper quoted an official close to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as saying that the vehicle used in the killing of Gemayel was found at one of the SSNP’s offices in the area of Koura in northern Lebanon.
The vehicle was allegedly owned by a Lebanese man who works at the U.N. in New York and was stolen shortly before the assassination in the Jdeideh suburb north of Beirut on November 21, 2006.
A lone assailant shot the minister in the head at point-blank range from a silencer-equipped gun after stepping out of the car.
The assassins had made changes to the vehicle to resemble the car of a former Lebanese Forces official who lives in the town of Roumieh not far from the crime scene.
The official also told al-Bilad that the STL will issue new arrest warrants that would end the ambiguity over the killing of Gemayel and the assassination attempt against former LBC anchorwoman May Chidiac on Sept. 25, 2005.
The warrants “accuse the SSNP of involvement in both crimes,” the official said.
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