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BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A Druze Lebanese sheikh associated with Lebanon's pro-Syrian Socialist Democratic Party was killed when a car he was riding in exploded near Beirut, according to witnesses and the Lebanese national news agency.
Saleh al-Aridi died in Baisour, southeast of Beirut. Four others were wounded in the blast, witnesses said.
It was the first such suspected assassination in Lebanon since January, when an explosion in a Beirut suburb killed four people including Lebanon's top anti-terror investigating officer and his driver.
The Bush administration issued a statement late Wednesday condemning the bombing.
"No one has a right to deprive Lebanese citizens of their political freedom, their right to move freely within their country or their sense of safety and security," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. "Our support for the Lebanese government and its democratic institutions is unwavering."
CNN's Christian Streib contributed to this report.
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