POLITICAL FALLOUT

Much of Hariri’s political career was defined by his opposition to pro-Syrian elements of Lebanon’s government.

While Hariri was always careful not to directly criticize Syria, he resigned from his position as prime minister in 2004 when Syria ordered the Lebanese parliament to amend its constitution and allow a pro-Syrian Lebanese president to serve past the existing constitutional limit.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said President Bush was “shocked and angered” by Monday’s attack, according to a transcript of Monday’s press conference on the White House website.

“[Hariri’s] murder is an attempt to stifle these efforts to build an independent, sovereign Lebanon free of foreign domination,” McClellan said, adding that the United States will look into measures “to punish those responsible for this terrorist attack” and to free Lebanon from “foreign occupation.”

When asked about Syria, McClellan stressed that “it’s premature to know who was responsible for this attack. But we continue to be concerned about the foreign occupation in Lebanon.”

Yesterday, U.S. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher announced that the State Department has recalled the ambassador to Syria, Margaret Scobey, for “urgent consultations” in Washington. Before leaving, Scobey delivered a message to the Syrian government expressing the United States’ “deep concern as well as our profound outrage over this heinous act of terrorism,” according to a press release on the State Department website.

—Staff writer Evan H. Jacobs can be reached at ehjacobs@fas.harvard.edu.