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Lebanon: Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel Assassinated
Beirut, 21 Nov. (AKI) - Lebanon's Industry Minister, Pierre Gemayel was shot dead in Beirut on Tuesday by unknown gunmen. The minister was hit when the motorcade he was travelling in drove through a Christian neighbourhood in the Lebanese capital. A Christian, Gemayel was the son of a former Lebaneser president Amin Gemayel and a prominent anti-Syrian politician.
RIP. I believe he is the son of Amin Gemayel, former Christian president of Lebanon.
Assassinations are seldom solved in Leb. My guess is that the killers won't be found. They're likely in the same place is the guys who killed Tueni and maimed May Chidiac. They may even be the very same people. I'm also guessing that if they were caught they'd coincidentally be either Shiites (barely likely not) or owned by Syria. Kofi's back to asking Syria and Iran to ensure Leb's "stability," which recall Syria did for the past 30 years or so. Once the civil war's fired up again, Syria will be the logical candidate to step in and do what it does best, which is to colonize its neighbor.

More, from Ya Liban...
Prominent anti-Syrian Christian politician Pierre Gemayel was assassinated in a suburb of Beirut on Tuesday. Gemayel, an outspoken critic of Syria, was assassinated near Beirut on Tuesday, security sources said. Gunmen opened fire as his convoy drove through the Christian Sin el-Fil neighbourhood. Gemayel was rushed to hospital where he later died of his wounds.

Gemayel, a member of the Christian Phalange Party and industry minister, was the son of former President Amin Gemayel. He was an opponent of the influence in Lebanon of Syria, who many Lebanese blame for the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Lebanon is in the throes of a political storm pitting the anti-Syrian ruling majority against the pro-Damascus opposition. The political tension threatens a new civil war to spill into street confrontations.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said on Tuesday his depleted cabinet was legitimate despite the resignation of six pro-Syrian ministers, and warned that any anti-government protests could turn violent. Pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its allies are preparing to take to the streets to topple Siniora's government, which they accuse of being allied with the United States, arguing that it has lost its legitimacy since Shi'ite Muslims are no longer represented.

The depleted cabinet last week approved draft U.N. statutes for a tribunal to try the killers of Hariri despite the resignation of six pro-Syrian ministers. Many Lebanese blame Syria for the killing of Hariri in a suicide truck bombing last year. Damascus denies involvement. A U.N. commission investigating the assassination has implicated senior Lebanese and Syrian security officials.

Gemayel is the first anti-Syrian politician to be killed since Gebran Tueni, who was assassinated in a car bomb blast on December 12, 2005.
Posted by: mrp 2006-11-21
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=172743