Lebanon faces power struggle after killing
Wednesday, 22 Nov 2006 12:21
Lebanon was already in a politically tense state before today's killing
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Lebanon looks set to face a fresh struggle over political power following the assassination of the country's industry minister Pierre Gemayel yesterday.
The Christian politician was shot dead by gunman in a car on a street in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Such a shooting comes at a tense time in Lebanon, only months after the conflict between Israel and the militant group Hizbullah left much of the country in ruins.
As the nation begins a three-day period of mourning in memory of Mr Gemayel, there are fears that the killing could spark fresh violence in the region, where tensions between the anti-Syrian Lebanese government and the pro-Damascus opposition, led by Hizbullah, look set to rise.
Phalange party member Mr Gemayel, 34, is the sixth anti-Syrian politician to be killed in almost two years.
Yesterday his father, former Lebanese president Amine Gemayel, appealed for a peaceful reaction in response to his son's death as anti-Syrian protestors took to the streets in the Christian town of Zahle, blocking off roads and shouting slogans against Hizbullah.
Speaking to reporters outside the Beirut hospital where his son was pronounced dead, the man who ruled in Lebanon between 1982 and 1988, told supporters that they should "not tarnish his memory by any irresponsible acts".
The killing of Mr Gemayel, who had often spoken out against Syria and its involvement in Lebanon during his political life, comes in the wake of last week's move by the Lebanese government to tentatively endorse United Nations' (UN) plans to establish a tribunal to investigate last year's killing of then Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
A recent UN report implicated Syria in the February 2005 murder of Mr Hariri, something which Damascus denies.
Yesterday, Saad al-Hariri, the Lebanese parliament speaker and son of the assassinated former prime minister, blamed Syria, a known sponsor of Hizbullah, which accuses Lebanon's government of being too close to the west, for the latest killing – a charge also rejected by the country.
Meanwhile, international leaders have expressed concern over the assassination.
US president George W Bush called for a full investigation to "identify those people and those forces behind the killing".
Using the opportunity to criticise Damascus, Mr Bush added: "Syria's
refusal to cease and desist from its continuing efforts to destabilise Lebanon's democratically elected government is a repeated violation of United Nations security council resolutions.
British prime minister Tony Blair said he "utterly condemned" Mr Gemayel's murder, adding that it was "completely without justification".
"We need to do everything we can to protect democracy in Lebanon and the premiership of prime minister Fouad Siniora. It underlines once again the urgency for a strategy for the whole of the Middle East," he added.