Rice decries 'foreign interference' in Lebanon following bombing
MEDELLIN, Colombia (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday decried "foreign interference" in Lebanon when asked by reporters to comment on a Beirut car bombing that killed four people, including a top anti-terrorism investigator.
"Lebanon has too long suffered from foreign interference," Rice said in a clear allusion to Syria.
Friday's bombing in Beirut and a number of similar attacks over the past three years have been blamed by Lebanon's Western-backed parliamentary majority on neighboring Syria, which has denied involvement.
Rice, who is on a two-day visit to Colombia to promote a free-trade agreement with Washington, said it was unclear who was to blame for Friday's attack.
"Its too early, but we have seen this sort of thing before," she said, complaining about the "violent pattern and intimidation" of the Beirut bombing.
Captain Wissam Eid, 31, a member of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces (ISF), and his bodyguard were killed along with two civilians in the car bombinh, a security official told AFP. He said 38 other people were wounded, with nine taken to hospital.
Another official from the ruling majority said Eid was on his way back from a meeting of the UN commission investigating the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri when he was killed.
The United States has consistently seen Syria behind Hariri's assassination and other high-profile murders and attacks in Lebanon since 2004.
