France Calls for Uncovering 'Entire Truth' behind Dahieh Blast
France “firmly” condemned Thursday's explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, calling for uncovering “the entire truth” behind the incident.
"We strongly condemn Dahieh's blast,” the deputy spokesperson of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vincent Floréani said on Friday.
He added: “It is necessary to uncover the truth behind the explosion and refer those behind it to court.”
Floréani stressed on his country's “commitment to Lebanon's stability and to denouncing terrorism.”
The Foreign Ministry's spokesperson also pointed out that “France supports President Michel Suleiman's disassociation policy.”
"We urge all the Lebanese people to work on safeguarding national unity.”
A huge car explosion killed at least 22 people and wounded 325 others in Beirut's Dahieh neighborhood on Thursday afternoon.
The state-run National News Agency reported that seven people, including a man and his three children, were missing.
A previously unknown group, apparently a Syrian rebel cell, said it carried out Thursday's attack in the densely populated southern suburbs of Beirut, between Bir al-Abed and Rweiss, districts where Hizbullah security is normally tight.
The group said the explosion came as a “response to Hizbullah's fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's forces in the neighboring country.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Kin-moon "strongly" condemned the explosion, urging all the Lebanese “to remain united, to rally around their state institutions and to focus on safeguarding Lebanon’s security and stability.”
Meanwhile, Suleiman considered on Thursday that the explosion bears the “hallmark of terrorism and of Israel.”
Source: Agence France Presse
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