Samir Kassir, who was tragically murdered on June 2, was a renowned journalist in Lebanon and abroad, and his death has aroused condemnation from the international community.

Early on Friday, the United Nations, United States and European Union voiced their opposition.

UN spokesman Stephane Du-jarric said Secretary-General Kofi Annan strongly condemned the murder.

"The secretary-general calls on the Lebanese Government to bring to justice the perpetrators and the instigators of today's terrible crime and to ensure an end to impunity and the continuation of press freedom," said Du-jarric.

The US and the EU jointly condemned the killing.

"It's a heinous act. Obviously someone is trying to intimidate the Lebanese people as they move through this electoral cycle," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

Javier Solana, the EU high representative for common foreign and security policy who held talks with Rice on Thursday, said: "I would like on behalf of everybody here to condemn it. It is a tragedy... We do not know who is responsible, but whatever is responsible should be found as responsible and condemned."

Syria on Thursday rejected the accusations that it was behind the killing.

"A source at the Information Ministry strongly denounced some Lebanese media and political figures who rushed as usual to accuse Syria," the official SANA news agency said.

"This affirms their pre-determined anti-Syrian stances... seeking to satisfy the enemies of Syria, Lebanon and all Arabs in general," SANA quoted the source as saying.

Outspoken, Kassir held strong views of the Syrian and Lebanese security apparatus and repeatedly called for the end of Damascus' control over Lebanon.

Born in Beirut in 1960, Kassir was one the most prominent Arab intellectuals in the world and was often invited to talk shows and conferences abroad to discuss subjects such as globalization or Islamic civilization.

A great defender of the Palestinian cause, Kassir was the first to support the Oslo Accords. He was also a founder and member of the Leftist Democratic Movement.

Kassir began his career as a reporter writing for the French local newspaper L'Orient le Jour in 1977. He was also a professor at the Political Sciences Institute at the Saint Joseph University in Beirut.

He started as a columnist for An-Nahar in 1988 and wrote for the London based Al-Hayat newspaper in 1988 and 1989. He worked for the French Le Monde Diplomatique newspaper from 1981 until 2000 and was editor-in-chief of its Arabic version from 1998 to 2000.

An avid historian, Kassir published a number of books among which the famous "Roads from Paris to Jerusalem: France and the Arab-Israeli Conflict."

In 2003, Kassir published "History of Beirut," which was hailed internationally and is considered as a reference work.

His last work, "Consideration on Arab Misfortune," 2004, is an essay that seeks to prove that the misfortunes of Arab countries lie in their geography rather then in their history.

He spent his childhood in Beirut and undertook his primary and secondary education at the Lycee Francais in Beirut.

He is survived by his widow, Giselle Khoury, also a journalist, and two daughters, Lyata, 16, and Maysa, 12.

(China Daily 06/04/2005 page6)