adminSuleiman has contacted Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi, LebaneseSyrian Supreme Council Secretary General Nasri Khoury and Lebanese Ambassador to Syria Michel Khoury, giving his instructions for immediate investigations to unveil the details of the incident and adopt the necessary judicial measures, according to a statement released by his media office.
Shaaban was killed Monday in the Lebanon’s northern border area of Wadi Khaled when he and two of his colleagues came under gunfire from the Syrian side. Reporter Khreis and cameraman Khayyat managed to escape unharmed.
The TV network said the crew was in the area with the aim of filming a report about the situation there. Khreis confirmed that he and his colleagues were in the
Lebanese territory when they came under gunfire from the Syrian side of the border.
He added that the shooting took place even though the television team had “greeted the Syrian forces guarding the border.”
The Lebanese president called for necessary investigations on the Syrian side so as to determine the responsibilities and prevent reoccurrence of such attacks in the future.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati also condemned the deadly shooting, urging Syria to “hold the perpetrators accountable.”
“We condemn and deplore the shooting from the Syrian side at the Lebanese media team, especially because they were operating within Lebanese territory, and we have asked the Lebanese army command to open an urgent probe into the incident,” Miqati said in a statement.
He added that “we condemn any attack against Lebanese citizens, especially journalists, and we will inform the Syrian side of our condemnation of this act and we will demand an investigation into the attack and demand the perpetrators to be held responsible.”
Lebanese Information Minister Walid Daouk described the attack as a “hideous crime against the media and journalism sector. We consider ourselves in a state of mourning, and the Lebanese media owes a lot to Martyr Ali,” Daouk added.— AP.
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