No progress in solving murder three months after death of Gebran Tueni

Reporters Without Borders has joined the family of murdered Lebanese journalist Gebran Tueni, in calling for pressure to be stepped up for an effective investigation into his death in a car-bombing last December. His daughter, Nayla Tueni, told the press freedom organisation on behalf of the family, “We are shocked that three months after Gebran's death, no judge has yet been appointed to open an investigation. It is unacceptable.” She called on the local and foreign press to help focus attention on the daily harassment suffered by journalists in Lebanon on a daily basis. “Too many journalists are killed for what they write,” she said, herself a journalist. Journalist and politician, Gebran Tueni, was killed in a car bomb blast on 12 December, 2005, in Mkalles in the Christian suburbs of the Lebanese capital. He was editor-in-chief of the daily An-Nahar and a Beirut deputy. Three journalists were victims of unsolved car-bombing attacks during 2005. Samir Kassir, editorial writer on An-Nahar, died in a car bombing on 2 June 2005. Kassir and Tueni both knew they were under threat after the assassination of the former prime minister Rafic Hariri, on 14 February 2005. Star TV presenter, May Chidiac, of the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation was very badly injured when her car blew up on 25 September 2005.