(AKI) - Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese gathered Thursday to pay their last respects for the country's industry minister Pierre Gemayel, a prominent Christian politician whose assassination has exacerbated the country's political crisis. Lebanon's pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud did not attend the funeral for Gemayel whose killing has been blamed by many on Syria. Damascus has condemned the assassination and denied any role in it.Many in the crowds that gathered with flags and posters near the site of the service at Beirut's Maronite St George Cathedral shouted anti-Syrian slogans, but Gemayel's father Amin Gemayel - a former president - called for calm. Speaking from a bullet-proof box he also said the country's leaders should take note of the huge turnout for his son's funeral. "It is a warning for the sake of Lebanon for the establishment of real and genuine sovereignty," he said. His son's "soul would consolidate our faith to achieve all goals for which our heroes have been martyrs", he added.
Pierre Gemayel's killing by unknown gunmen in Beirut on Tuesday has raised fears that it could trigger an explosion of violence in the multi-sectarian nation of four million. Hundreds of troops have been deployed in the capital, with the country in a state of high tension. The United Nations Security Council has agreed to a request from Lebanon to help investigate the murder.
Pierre Gemayel, 34, was a member of Premier Fouad Siniora's government which came to power when a coalition of anti-Syrian groups won elections in June 2005 - the first to be held without a Syrian military presence in the country in almost three decades.
Gemayel's murder has further rocked Lebanon's unstable poltical system. Last week six pro-Syrian cabinet members resigned and the government is on the verge of collapse. The UN commission already looking into the murder of another anti-Syrian politician, ex-Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri in 2005 has indicated it will take on the inquiry into Pierre Gemayel's killing. A recent report compiled by the commission has implicated Syrian officials in the death, but Syria continues to deny involvement.