Lebanon ? A newspaper publisher who had been one of the most outspoken critics of Syrian interference in Lebanon was assassinated Monday by a car bomb as he drove through the hills of Beirut.

Gibran Tueni, a third-generation newspaperman and newly elected lawmaker, had returned to Lebanon the previous day from France, where he had taken refuge over the summer, saying his name was at the top of an assassination list.

The charismatic Tueni was the most prominent Lebanese figure slain since former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in February. Hours after Tueni’s death, the U.N. Security Council met to discuss the attack and an investigation into the killing of Hariri.