A day after a car bomb killed Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, opposition leaders have demanded a full investigation, the government's resignation and a complete Syrian troop pullout.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Druze opposition leader Walid Jumblatt Tuesday accused Syria and Lebanese authorities of assassinating former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
"This (Lebanese) regime is backed by the Syrians. This is the regime of terrorists and terrorism that was able yesterday to wipe out Rafik al-Hariri," Jumblatt told reporters after presenting his condolences to Hariri's family in Beirut.
"I charge the Lebanese-Syrian police regime with the responsibility for Hariri's death."
Syria, which keeps 14,000 troops in Lebanon and plays a powerbroker role there, has condemned the car bomb attack that devastated Hariri's motorcade as it drove through Beirut's luxury seafront district Monday, killing him and 14 others.
Jumblatt, a former minister and current member of parliament, said the Lebanese authorities had accused him and his ally, Hariri, of being "traitors and agents of Israel, America and France," paving the way for the bombing.
Hariri had recently joined Jumblatt in calling for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.
Asked if he wanted normal, balanced ties with Syria, Jumblatt said: "This is our goal. We have no means other than political dialogue. They send us car bombs and kill us and we engage in political dialogue. We don't have their devilish means."
Jumblatt reiterated his demand for a Syrian pullout to the eastern Bekaa Valley as a first step toward a total withdrawal.
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