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Al-Akhbar Journalist Questioned Over Tueni Assassination Claims
Investigating Judge George Karam questioned al-Akhbar journalist Jean Aziz for two hours on Wednesday over his article in which he challenged the official story concerning the assassination of An-Nahar General Manager and MP Gebran Tueni.
The daily An-Nahar stated on Thursday that MP Butros Harb acting as an attorney on behalf of the Tueni family presented a legal request in which he referred to Aziz”s written article saying:
"The claims made in the article are directly related to the crime and if proved to be true, could shed a lot of light on events and circumstances of the assassination. Moreover, if these claims are false the said claims could hinder the investigation and harm the interests of my clients."
In his article, Aziz claimed that on December 12 2005, the presence of a parked Renault Rapide that blew up when Tueni”s vehicle was passing by causing his death were not true.
Aziz added that the ongoing investigation did not follow up on this point.
Harb described information in the Aziz article as "dangerous" and "an attempt to keep the authorities busy," adding that this issue should be investigated in due fact of its relation to the crime. Harb requested from the investigating authorities to further widen the scope of their work and look into all the facts related to the case in light of Aziz”s article.
Tueni was assassinated as he was heading to work. His driver passed the side parked Renault Rapide that blew up at the Mkaless district killing Tueni, his driver and a bodyguard, several passersby were injured and ten other vehicles destroyed, an Internal Security Forces report stated at the time.