CWN - The head of the Maronite Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See, denounced the assassination of Mohamad Chatah (also spelled Shatah), a Sunni Muslim politician who served as Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States (1997-2000) and finance minister (2008-9).

The Shi’a Muslim terrorist organization Hezbollah, which is allied with the Syrian government, is suspected in the car-bomb attack that killed eight.

“With Chatah’s assassination, Lebanon has lost a face of moderation,” said Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, as quoted in the Beirut-based Daily Star.