Syria denounces Beirut bombing (says its was meant as a smear Syria)

[ECH1969]

DAMASCUS, Syria (Reuters) -- Syria said a car bombing that killed anti-Syrian Lebanese newspaper publisher and lawmaker Gebran Tueni in Beirut on Monday was timed to smear Damascus.

"Syria is pained over the bombings and assassinations that target the security of Lebanon," the statement on SANA said, describing allegations that Damascus had a role in the attacks as a further attempt to strain Syrian-Lebanese relations.

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a close ally of Tueni, was quick to suggest a Syrian role in the latest bombing.

Asked who was responsible, he told Al Arabiya television: "Gebran Tueni and (his newspaper) An-Nahar were being threatened for a long time by the Syrian regime... We got the message."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/12/lebanon.blast.syria.reut/