Aftermath of explosion which killed politician from pro-Syrian party скачать в хорошем качестве

Aftermath of explosion which killed politician from pro-Syrian party

(11 Sep 2008) SHOTLIST 1. Wide of blast site where Lebanese Druse politician Sheik Saleh Aridi, was killed in car bomb explosion 2. Mid of charred car in cordoned off area 3. Lebanese army soldier keeping watch on charred car remains 4. Close of destroyed car 5. Tilt down from a burnt house near by, to wide of charred car 6. Mid of another nearby car with shattered window 7. Close of broken wind shield 8. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Farid Al-Aridi, resident: "Saleh Farhan (Sheik Saleh Aridi) is a great loss for the village and for the sect (Druse sect). He was a lovely man in the village. The aim was to create a division in the village because until now the village has been far away from any division and we haven't been frightened." 9. Wide of charred car STORYLINE: A bomb tore through a car in the hills east of Lebanon's capital on Wednesday, killing a Druse politician who recently helped reconcile rival factions within that minority community, police said. The bomb that killed Sheik Saleh Aridi, a senior member of the Lebanese Democratic Party, was planted in his car in the village of Baissour, police said. It was the first political assassination in about a year in Lebanon and came less than a week before planned reconciliation talks among rival Lebanese factions. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora contacted Druse leaders and joined them in calling for calm. Six other people were injured in the blast, which went off as Aridi got into his Mercedes sedan in front of his house in the Druse-populated hills near the resort town of Aley, police said. Police said the charge was stuck under the car's body, below the driver's seat, and blew up as the car rolled. Officials believe it was triggered either by remote control or by a motion sensor. The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of government regulations. The charred remains of the badly damaged car was kept under tight security by Lebanese police overnight on Wednesday. The bomb's target was unusual. Aridi, like his party, was among those Lebanese politicians allied with Syria, a nation that had long dominated its politically fractured neighbour. A string of bombs have largely targeted politicians opposed to Syria's influence in Lebanese affairs, starting with the Beirut truck bombing that killed former Premier Rafik Hariri in 2005. Those attacks were blamed by many on Syria, though it has denied involvement. Lebanon's political standoff between pro- and anti-Syrian factions boiled over into fighting in Beirut and the Druse hills east of the capital in May. During those clashes, Shiite fighters of the Syrian-backed Hezbollah overran Sunni pro-government strongholds and fought an anti-Syrian Druse faction in the region where the bomb went off on Wednesday. An Arab-brokered agreement defused the tension, leading to the election of a new president and the formation of a national unity Cabinet that includes the two major blocs. Farid Al-Aridi, a Baissour resident said the aim of the assassination was to "create a division in the village". He described Aridi's death as a "great loss." The area is controlled by two main Druse factions, the Lebanese Democratic Party led by Talal Arsalan and the Progressive Socialist Party of Walid Jumblatt. In addition to the historic rivalry between those two factions for control of the Druse community, the two parties are also on opposite sides of the divide over Syria. Arsalan is allied with the Syrian-backed Hezbollah and Jumblatt is a prominent leader of the anti-Syrian camp. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...