The United States and France slammed Thursday the “assassination attempt” against Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

The United States and France slammed Thursday the “assassination attempt” against Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

As US Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Toner condemned in “the strongest terms what appears to be an assassination attempt targeting Lebanese politician Samir Geagea,” he expressed Washington’s concern that he was “targeted because of his outspoken criticism of the Assad regime's murderous repression and Hezbollah's destabilizing actions in Lebanon."

The French Foreign Ministry also condemned the act, considering that “this cowardly act, committed against one of the main Lebanese politicians, is to destabilize the country”.

Geagea has announced before reporters Wednesday that he was exposed to an assassination attempts as snipers fired two gunshots while he was taking a walk with his bodyguards near his residence in Maarab.

Geagea considered that “this was not a message. Those who stand behind the operation wanted it to be the final message.”