Brussels, 10/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EU strongly condemns the car bomb attack committed in south Beirut on Tuesday 9 July, said Michael Mann, the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, on Tuesday evening. This attack “needs to be duly investigated and its perpetrators held to account”, he said. “This appalling act of violence underlines the need for all Lebanese to maintain their national unity and actively work to preserve peace, safety and stability in Lebanon”, stated Mann. He underlined that it is “essential” that Lebanon's leaders maintain their commitment to the principles set out in the Baabda Declaration.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague also condemned the blast and called “on all Lebanese parties to work together to resist any efforts by extremists and terrorists to undermine Lebanon's hard-won peace”.
A booby-trapped car exploded on 9 July in a stronghold of the Shiite Hezbollah movement and reportedly left around 50 people injured. (CG/transl.fl)