Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir, who was assassinated on Jun. 2, 2005 in Beirut. (Credit: SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom)
BEIRUT — A number of political figures on Thursday issued messages in honor of Samir Kassir on the 17th anniversary of the assassination of the prominent journalist, An-Nahar newspaper columnist and figure in the 2005 "Cedar Revolution" in Lebanon against Syria's military and political dominance over the country.
Here’s what we know:
• Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea wrote on Twitter that “they wanted your life to be short. But you are still alive. You are a symbol and a memory.”
• Kassir, a harsh critic of the Syrian political and security hegemony over Lebanon following the end of the 1975-1990 Lebanese Civil War, was killed by a car bomb in the Achrafieh quarter of Beirut on Jun. 2, 2005.
• His death came amid a series of assassinations against political figures challenging Syrian influence in Lebanon. Syrian troops left Lebanon in April 2005, following a series of mass protests that erupted after the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
• Rafik’s son, Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, wrote on Twitter that “17 years since your assassination, we will not forget.”
• Fouad Siniora, another Future Movement figure and former premier, issued a statement that “the path of Samir Kassir will remain that of a fighter who distinguished himself by his courage, enthusiasm and determination to speak truth to tyrants.
• MP Michel Mouwad (Independent/Zgharta) for his part, wrote on Twitter that Kassir’s thought “will not die.”