International community, media urged to take action in response to murders of Lebanese journalists

Reporters Without Borders gave a press conference today at the headquarters of the An-Nahar daily newspaper in Beirut to reiterate its condemnation of the murders of journalists Samir Kassir and Gebran Tuéni in bombings on 2 June and 12 December, and the maiming of fellow journalist May Chidiac in a bombing on 25 September. The press organisation's secretary-general, Robert Ménard, Tuéni's daughters, Nayla et Michèle Tuéni, Kassir's widow, Gisèle Khoury, and Khoury's daughters, Mayssa and Liana, all spoke at the press conference, recounting their personal memories of the victims and issuing an appeal to the international community. Nayla Tuéni, herself a young journalist, urged the Lebanese judicial authorities to speed up their investigations. She also called on the country's press to launch a major campaign to try to end the wave of killings that has shaken Lebanon since October 2004. She said everyone knew her father was under threat and therefore the entire country was responsible for his death. Khoury said: “Lebanon is the only Arab country that enjoys a degree of freedom and this is the reason why journalists are being killed. We call on all our colleagues throughout the world to react, so that the deaths of Gebran and Samir can strengthen our determination.” Kassir's daughter, Liana, appealed to Jean-Louis Bruguière, the French anti-terrorist judge in charge of the French investigation into the death of her father, who had French and Lebanese dual citizenship. “Judge Bruguière, we are waiting for you,” she said, looking firmly at the TV cameras. Ménard voiced “disappointment” at UN security council resolution 1644 extending the mandate of the international commission that is investigating former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, as it authorises the commission just to provide technical assistance to the Lebanese government and leaves the government in charge of the investigations into all the political killings and bombings in Lebanon since October 2004. “If the United Nations do not do anything more, this wave of violence will inevitably continue,” Ménard said. “We are going to appeal to all the international bodies such as the Human Rights Commission, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.” Ménard added: “The Lebanese media must also mobilise more to combat this violence, of which they are the first victims.” This has been a black year for the Lebanese press. The first journalist to die, Kassir, was a correspondent for the French television station TV5 and an columnist for An-Nahar. Then LBC television presenter May Chidiac was maimed by a bomb in September. All this took place during the extended crisis resulting from Hariri's assassination on 14 February. Finally, the death four days ago of Tuéni, the CEO of An-Nahar and a member of the Lebanese parliament, has confirmed the worst fears of Lebanon's journalists.