SHOTLIST POOL Washington DC - 19 September 2007 1. White House press secretary Dana Perino walks into the White House press briefing room and stand at podium 2. Cutaway of reporters 3. SOUNDBITE ( English) Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary: "We strongly condemn the assassination of Lebanese member of Parliament Antoine Ghanem. He was viciously murdered today in Beirut, along with several other innocent persons. Since October of 2004, there has been a pattern of political assassinations and attempted assassinations designed to intimidate those working courageously toward a sovereign and democratic Lebanon. The victims of these cowardly attacks have consistently been those who publicly sought to end Syria's interference in Lebanon's internal affairs. It is no coincidence that this attack comes as Lebanon prepares to elect a new president, and the United States will continue to stand by those Lebanese who continue to courageously stand up for democracy and independence." 4. Back shot of Perino during briefing 5. SOUNDBITE ( English) Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary: "I had not heard that particular announcement out of Israel. I do know that Secretary Rice is on her way to the region right now. The goal is to make sure that we continue to try to move the peace process forward. As you know, or might not know, the President will host a meeting here in November. We'll talk with different countries in the region about contributions they can make to a peaceful situation there in the Middle East. Without having seen the Israeli statement and without checking, I couldn't comment." 6. Cutaway of reporter 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary: "But it (Iran's statement on Israel) does seem provocative, and I will tell you that Israel doesn't want war with its neighbours, and what the world has asked for is for Iran to comply with the Security Council obligations to stop its movement towards a nuclear weapon, and that way, the people of Iran, who can do much better than the government than they have now, would be able to prosper and have a free and good life. I can't tell you why Iran would say something like that about Israel. It was totally unprovoked and unnecessary." 8. Cutaway of reporters STORYLINE A White House spokesperson weighed in on several of the day's hot button issues on Wednesday - including developments in Lebanon, Israel, the Gaza Strip and Iran. During a weekly briefing in Washington DC, press secretary Dana Perino said the Bush administration strongly condemned the assassination of Lebanese lawmaker Antoine Ghanem in a car bomb attack earlier in the day. Perino said it was "no coincidence" that the attack on the anti-Syrian lawmaker came as Lebanon prepared to elect a new president. "Since October 2004, there has been a pattern of political assassinations and attempted assassinations designed to intimidate those working courageously toward a sovereign and democratic Lebanon," Perino said. Ghanem had just returned to Lebanon two days ago from refuge abroad when he was killed with six other people by a bomb that rocked a Christian neighbourhood of the capital, security officials said. Ghanem is the eighth prominent anti-Syrian figure to be assassinated since 2005. Many accuse Damascus of being behind the assassinations - arguing that assassinations were part of Syria's plan to end the majority rule through attrition. With Ghanem's death, the ruling majority - led by Prime Minister Fuad Saniora - retains a margin in parliament of only four seats. Syria has denied the allegations. When asked about Israel's decision to declare Gaza "an enemy entity" earlier on Wednesday, Perino said he hadn't heard of the decision and therefore couldn't comment. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c44f5d3168be25d3cd4699c54f635899 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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