Lebanese lawmaker dead in possible assassination

Hello! I'm Kristin Volk with a UPI Headline Update. A member of the Lebanese parliament is dead after an explosion in Beirut yesterday. Sources say the killing of Walid Eido was an assassination. Eido was a known opponent of Syrian involvement in Lebanon. The incident is the latest in a series of anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians to be killed. At least six other people died in the blast that happened outside of a military sports club. Sunni mosques are now being targeted after a Shiite mosque was bombed yesterday. Authorities believe Sunni insurgents hit the mosque in Samarra, Iraq that was first attacked last year. Gunman stormed a Sunni mosque yesterday in Southwest Baghdad and burned it while militiamen hit another Sunni holy site south of Baghdad. Iraqi and U.S. authorities are calling on all Iraqis to reject the call to violence. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has been scrambling to gain control of the violence following the attack on the Shiite shrine. Last night, Maliki imposed a curfew on Baghdad and called on all political parties not to exploit the explosions for political purposes. He also made a live appearance on TV and urged everyone not to resort to retaliation. In the address, Maliki blamed terrorists and pro-Saddam factions for the attack. Sixty suspects have been arrested and more than $1 million worth of street drugs seized in a Toronto gang sweep. More than 700 police officers conducted the raid mainly in the northwest part of the city known for violent gang activity. They also seized scores of weapons. This was the fifth major drug sweep by Toronto police since 2004. That's all for now. Thanks for watching and have a great day!

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YouTube | June 14, 2007

Tags:. .samarra. .nouri. .eido. .maliki. .syrian