Pierre Gemayel is killed

[maxell]

Lebanese Cabinet minister is killed

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Prominent anti-Syrian Christian politician Pierre Gemayel was assassinated in a suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, his Phalange Party Voice of Lebanon radio station reported.

The shooting will certainly heighten the political tension in Lebanon, where the leading Muslim Shiite party Hezbollah has threatened to topple the government if it does not get a bigger say in Cabinet decision-making.

Gemayel was rushed to a nearby hospital, according to the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. and the Voice of Lebanon, the Phalange Party mouthpiece reported. The party later announced that he was dead.

Gemayel, the minister of industry and son of former President Amin Gemayel, was a supporter of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, which is locked in a power struggle with pro-Syrian factions led by Hezbollah.

He was named for his grandfather, who founded the Phalange Party in 1936 to exert Christian power in Lebanon. It dominated Christian politics for decades after Lebanon's independence from France in 1943.

During the civil war, the Phalange had the largest Christian militia that fought Muslim forces and Palestinian guerrillas. The death of the senior Pierre Gemayel in 1983, the shrinking Christian community and internal dissent have seriously weakened the party, which could not get its own leader elected to parliament in 2000.

Amin Gemayel served as Lebanon's president from 1982 to 1988. He was elected by parliament after the assassination of his brother, Bashir, who was chosen president but was killed a few days before he was to take office. (from YAHOO news)

I think Nassrallah begin his war on Lebanon and Lebanese people! WHY U Hazbullah against peace in Lebanon!

Allah Kbeer

[Janjoon-Lebanese]

thanks Maxell ...I opened a thread about it ....
it's just i don't know ...so annoying !

KHALAS kam wa7ad ba3ed !!!!

[maxell]

Lebanese fearful after leader's murder

BEIRUT, Lebanon - With Independence Day celebrations canceled, Lebanon was engulfed in fear and gloom Wednesday as it prepared to bury Christian leader and Cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, whose assassination threatened to push a country in political crisis over the brink.

Schools and shops were closed and traffic was light as Gemayel's coffin, draped in the flag of his Phalange Party, was driven to the family's home in Bikfaya for mourning ceremonies before the funeral scheduled for Thursday. A small crowd of mourners, some carrying Lebanese flags, walked slowly behind the vehicle carrying the coffin.

Gemayel, minister of industry and scion of a prominent political family, was killed Tuesday when two cars blocked his vehicle at an intersection in the suburbs of Beirut and an assassin shot him numerous times through a side window of his car.

His killing — the fifth murder of an anti-Syrian figure in Lebanon in two years — immediately drew condemnations from all quarters.

The United States condemned the slaying as an act of terrorism. President George W. Bush accused Syria and Iran of seeking to undermine the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, though he stopped short of blaming them for the 34-year-old Gemayel's slaying. Syria too condemned the assassination and denied any role in it.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud went on national TV late Tuesday to announce that Wednesday's Independence Day celebrations had been canceled.

"I was supposed to deliver today the independence speech but we were surprised by this disaster which hit all the Lebanese," Lahoud said, adding that the murder was part of a "conspiracy" that began with the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

"Therefore, I tell the Lebanese that today is the time for them to unite or else all of Lebanon will lose," Lahoud said. He offered condolences to Gemayel's father, former President Amin Gemayel, a political opponent of Lahoud.

"We will do the impossible to uncover the criminals because they are against all the Lebanese," Lahoud said.

Politicians from all sides scrambled to contain the fallout of the assassination, urging calm amid fears of an outbreak of the brutal violence between Lebanon's sharply divided communities that marked the 1975-90 civil war. The leading Shiite Muslim party Hezbollah and its allies have challenged the Sunni-Muslim backed prime minister, threatening to topple the government unless they receive effective veto powers in the Cabinet.

Prime Minister Saniora called for unity and warned that "sedition" was being planned against Lebanon. In a TV address on Tuesday night, he linked Gemayel's slaying to the issue that sparked the crisis with Hezbollah: a plan for an international court to try suspects in the Hariri assassination. He said Lebanese should rally behind the government's backing for such a court.

Saniora's government is dominated by opponents of Syria. Many see the demands as a bid by Damascus to restore its influence in its smaller neighbor — and by Hezbollah to boost its power, riding on increased popularity among Lebanon's Shiite Muslim population following this summer's war with Israel.

Washington sees Lebanon as a key front in its attempts to isolate Syria and Iran, and following the assassination, Bush underlined his support for "the Saniora government and its democracy, and we support the Lebanese people's desire to live in peace."

The assassination came hours before the U.N. Security Council was expected to endorse a draft document creating the international court to try suspects in the Hariri murder, in which an U.N. investigation has implicated several Syrian officials. The document then goes to the Lebanese government for final approval.

Six members from Hezbollah and its allies quit Saniora's 24-member Cabinet earlier this month before it gave its backing to the court, sparking the political crisis. The draft of the international tribunal also says if political assassinations were found linked to Hariri's murder the court will have jurisdiction to try suspects in those attacks as well.

SANIORA'S GOVERNMENT WILL STAY

[maxell]

World unites in condemnation


The international community voiced shock at the assassination on Tuesday of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel and the United States accused Syria and Iran of fomenting violence and instability in Lebanon. Russia, the European Union, Britain, Germany and France all voiced shock, without apportioning blame. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, the Gulf states and Iran were united in condemning the murder and urging the Lebanese to seek dialogue.

Speaking to US troops stationed in Hawaii, US President George W. Bush said: "We support [Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's] government and its democracy and we support the Lebanese people's desire to live in peace and we support their efforts to defend their democracy against attempts by Syria, Iran and allies to foment instability and violence in that important country."

Bush did not specifically blame Iran or Syria.

"I call for a full investigation of the murder to identify those people and those forces behind the killing. We call on the international community to support Prime Minister Siniora's government," he said.

But Bush's tone, further bolstered in a written statement on the killing, appeared to cast further doubt on already slim chances of a diplomatic opening with Iran and Syria over Iraq.

"Syria's refusal to cease and desist from its continuing efforts to destabilize Lebanon's democratically elected government" was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, Bush said.

"We also demand that Syria treat Lebanon as a genuinely sovereign neighbor, establishing full diplomatic relations with Lebanon," he added.

The president said the assassination made it even more important for the United Nations Security Council to make a decision on a tribunal to investigate the killing of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri in 2005.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, traveling with Bush, telephoned Siniora with condolences and to reiterate US support for democracy in Lebanon, said Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman.

Earlier, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, raised the possibility of Syrian involvement in the slaying of Gemayel.

Referring also to the Hariri investigation, Bolton told reporters: "I think people can draw their own conclusions."

Syria issued a complete denial of involvement in the killing through its embassy in Washington. It condemned the murder as "an odious crime ... aimed at destabilizing Lebanon and disturbing the civil peace."

"This charade of blaming Syria for every malicious event in Lebanon has been exposed a long time ago and is, simply, losing all credibility," the embassy statement said. "Syria is outraged by this terrible act. In a time when the international community is advocating more engagement with Syria, such an act only stands to undermine these initiatives."

The embassy suggested the killing was timed by unnamed elements to discredit Syria ahead of the Security Council decision expected imminently on the Hariri tribunal.

"It's no coincidence that Pierre Gemayel was assassinated on the day the Security Council is discussing a Lebanese issue," the statement said.

The slaying came just as the 15-member Security Council was set to reach a decision on whether to give its green light for creation of the tribunal.

The council endorsement would come in the form of a letter to UN chief Kofi Annan, if no member raises objections by 6 p.m. (2300 GMT). The Daily Star had already gone to press by the time the meeting convened.

Bolton said Gemayel's death highlighted the need to set up the tribunal.

"We are confronted with what appears to be yet another terrorist assassination in Beirut," he said. "It shows why we need the tribunal established as soon as possible."

Iran also condemned what it termed the "cowardly" assassination, the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns this cowardly act and expresses its solidarity with the family," ISNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini as saying. "Without any doubt, this act was carried out by enemies of Lebanon who do not want the country to be a symbol of national unity and of the victory of the resistance" against Israel."

The killing came as "all Lebanese parties were showing political maturity to avoid any confrontation," he added.

Both French President Jacques Chirac and the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said the killers must be brought to justice.

France "stands alongside Lebanon in support of the full implementation of Security Council resolutions, notably for the creation of an international court [to try Hariri's killers]," a presidential statement said.

Jordanian King Abdullah II denounced what he called a "cowardly crime that is targeting the security and stability of brother Lebanon," the official Petra news agency said.

He pointed to the need "for the Lebanese people to close ranks at this time and not to allow [efforts] aimed at provoking divisions at the heart of the Lebanese people to succeed."

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged the Lebanese to and put aside differences "in order not to lose Lebanon."

"We are for any initiative that leads to peace in Lebanon," Mubarak added.

In Riyadh, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) denounced the killing.

"The political crisis in Lebanon has led to the assassination," GCC Secretary General Abdel-Rahman al-Atiyya said, saying members Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman "reject such terrorist acts designed to propagate disorder."

UN chief Kofi Annan condemned "the cold-blooded murder," saying through his spokesman that such acts "undermine Lebanon's stability and have no place in a democratic and open society."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair demanded a detailed inquiry and said Siniora must be protected. Blair's foreign minister, Margaret Beckett, said the assassination would only increase regional tension.

"Clearly we condemn it ... There are enough problems in Lebanon already," she told a news conference with her Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni.

Livni said it was too soon to comment on accusations against Syria, but she added that "the negative role of Syria in Lebanon is not something new or top secret."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier described the assassination as "clearly another attempt to sabotage the development of an independent, sovereign and democratic Lebanon." From dailystar.com

[maxell]

Pierre Amin Gemayel, 1972-2006



Pierre Gemayel, an outspoken critic of Syrian influence over Lebanon, was a member of the Christian Phalange Party and industry minister. The son of former President Amin Gemayel, Pierre was born in 1972. A lawyer and the youngest MP in the Lebanese Parliament, Gemayel was first elected to the legislature in 2000 and was re-elected in 2005.

He is part of a third generation of prominent politicians from the Gemayel family that has has played a considerable role in Lebanon's recent history.

Gemayel's political career was spent with the right-wing Maronite Christian Phalange Party founded by his grandfather, also Pierre Gemayel, in 1936. The Phalange was one of the main players in Lebanon's 15-year Civil War, which began in 1975.

His father, Amin, was president of Lebanon between 1982 and 1988 and his uncle, Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated in September 1982, less than a month after he was elected president and soon after he agreed to implement diplomatic ties with Israel.

Gemayel was an opponent of Syrian tutelage over Lebanon, and many Lebanese blame Damascus for the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Gemayel is the first anti-Syrian politician to be killed since MP Gebran Tueni, who was assassinated by a car bomb on December 12, 2005.

He married his wife, Patricia Daif, on September 25, 1999, at St. Catherine's Church in Limassol, Cyprus. Gemayel is survived by his wife; his parents, Amin and Joyce; his sister, Nicole; and his brother, Sami.

[maxell]

Lebanon mourns minister amid growing crisis

BEIRUT, Lebanon (Reuters) -- Lebanon began three days of mourning on Wednesday for an anti-Syrian cabinet minister whose assassination, blamed by his allies on Damascus, has reignited his country's deep factional rivalries.



Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, a Christian, was gunned down as he drove through a Christian suburb of Beirut on Tuesday. He was the sixth anti-Syrian politician to be killed in nearly two years.

The assassination turned Lebanon's Independence Day on Wednesday into a somber occasion. All festivities, including a military parade, were canceled.

The killing will heighten tensions between the anti-Syrian government and the pro-Damascus opposition led by Hezbollah, the powerful Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group determined to topple what it sees as a pro-U.S. cabinet. ( Watch aftermath of the slaying -- 4:10)

The murder drew widespread international condemnation and many Lebanese politicians accused Syria of killing Gemayel and being responsible for the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Syria condemned Gemayel's killing.

"It is the destabilization of Lebanon that is under way today. We must respond to this destabilization with the greatest firmness, with courage," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told France Info radio.

"Those who perpetrated and ordered these assassinations be held responsible for their crimes."

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday approved plans for a special international court to try suspects in Hariri's murder, but the tribunal has been a divisive issue between the rival Lebanese parties.

The action by the 15-nation Security Council, in the form of a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will enable the plans to be submitted to the Lebanese government for its formal approval.

Gemayel was among cabinet members who voted last week to tentatively approve the U.N. plans submitted to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government.

His body was driven from hospital near Beirut to his hometown of Bekfaya, northeast of Beirut, where hundreds of sympathizers walked behind the coffin, raising pictures of him and waving white flags of his Phalange Party.

Somber procession
As the procession made its way slowly to Gemayel's family home, women on balconies threw rice at the coffin draped in his party's flag. Gemayel's funeral will take place on Thursday and the anti-Syrian coalition has urged a large turnout.

"It's an indescribable feeling," mourner Fadi Jalakh, 27, told Reuters. "Those who killed him don't want the Lebanese to unite. Anything after this is going to make things worse."

Police investigating the murder said they had little to report.

Six mostly Hezbollah opposition ministers resigned before the vote on the U.N. tribunal, throwing the government into crisis and prompting a protest from Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who called the cabinet action illegitimate.

"Pierre Amin Gemayel martyr of the international tribunal," Beirut's Al-Liwaa newspaper said in a front-page headline.

Following Gemayel's murder, the death or resignation of two more ministers would bring down Siniora's government.

Hariri's son Saad and his allies quickly accused Damascus of killing Gemayel in an attempt to derail the U.N. tribunal.

A U.N. investigation has implicated Lebanese and Syrian security officials in Hariri's murder. Syria denies any links.

Commentator Rafik Khouri wrote in the Christian Al-Anwar daily: "The blood of the martyred young minister... covered the street and revealed that the danger facing Lebanon is even graver than the fears many expressed."

Large demonstrations after Hariri's killing forced Syria to end 29 years of military presence in Lebanon in April 2005.

The assassination occurred after a devastating July-August conflict in south Lebanon between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, which accused the pro-U.S. government of backing its opponents in order to weaken the group as a political and military force.

Hezbollah and its allies have threatened to take to the streets to topple Siniora's government, saying it has lost its legitimacy since Shi'ite Muslims were no longer represented.

A political source close to Hezbollah said Tuesday's murder would force it to revise its plans and delay the protests.

[Fatima]

maxell said:

Pierre Amin Gemayel, 1972-2006

[Janjoon-Lebanese]

he's so young ..shab ! 3anjad 3arees

7aram ....

thanks maxell for the articles

[maxell]

Thousands pay respects to family of slain Gemayel



BIKFAYA: Church bells tolled Wednesday morning as the body of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel was brought home ahead of his funeral Thursday. The coffin was driven from the St. Joseph Hospital in Dora to his hometown of Bikfaya, northeast of the capital. Hundreds of weeping mourners led by former President Amin Gemayel, the slain minister's father, and his family, walked behind the coffin, waving the white-and-green flags of Gemayel's Phalange Party.

"God be with you, groom," the crowd shouted. "God be with you, hero."

"Pierre is alive inside us," others shouted.

"What can I say? They killed the hero of heroes. They are killing Lebanon's dream. The suspicion points toward Syria," said Rizkallah Gemayel, 45.

There was a heavy police and army presence in Bikfaya and many of the Christian neighborhoods of Beirut.

"How long in this country are criminals going to force fathers to bury their own sons?" one mourner muttered after Gemayel's body was taken inside the family home.

Lebanon's former first lady, Joyce Gemayel, wept as she stood by her son's coffin. "They riddled him with bullets. They tore him apart," she sobbed.

The coffin of Gemayel was draped in the Phalange flag.

Gunshots were fired into the air as the crowd marched behind the pallbearers along streets daubed with pictures of the slain minister.

"Those who killed my father have struck again, but they will not succeed in killing Lebanon," said Gemayel's cousin Nadim, 24, son of President-elect Bashir Gemayel, killed in 1982.

Upstairs, Gemayel's bereaved father Amin, who served as president of Lebanon from 1982-88 after his brother's assassination, received well-wishers. In a televised interview with Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., Gemayel reviewed his son's brief career.

The former president received condolence telephones calls from US President George W. Bush, French President Jacques Chirac, Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdel-Aziz and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Among those paying their respects in Bikfaya were March 14 Forces figures, former premiers Salim Hoss and Rashid Solh and a parliamentary delegation from the Amal Movement.

Gemayel said neither Hizbullah nor President Emile Lahoud had called or sent representatives to pay their respects.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, an ally of Hizbullah, said in a separate interview that Gemayel's family told him "circumstances were not appropriate for his visit."

However, Aoun urged his supporters to participate in Gemayel's funeral, which is expected to be followed by a massive demonstration organized by the March 14 Forces.

A Hizbullah spokesperson said the party had issued a statement condemning the assassination, adding "paying condolences is a normal duty and it will take place if not today, tomorrow. Timing is a small detail."

Resigned Agriculture Minister Talal Sahili, a member of the Amal delegation, said the latest murder of a national figure was aimed at "sabotaging Lebanon's internal situation and weakening national unity."

"The assassins want to drive Lebanon into the unknown and prevent officials from reaching solutions to the current political deadlock," Sahili added.

Arab and foreign diplomats were also among those to pay their respects Wednesday, including US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, who held a closed-door meeting with Gemayel and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in Bikfaya.

MP Ghassan Tueni, whose son Gebran was assassinated last December, and prominent TV presenter May Chidiac also traveled to the mountain town to pay their condolences.

A massive portrait of the slain journalist has adorned the side of the Beirut headquarters of his An-Nahar newspaper since Tueni's killing. Gemayel's has now been raised alongside it, both bearing the words: "Martyr for Lebanese independence."

[maxell]

Minister 'asked for less security' ahead of fatal attack

BEIRUT: In a bitter twist of fate, the late Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, who usually made a habit of being accompanied by police protection at all times, had asked his security detail to stand down Tuesday, acting Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat revealed Wednesday.

"Sheikh Pierre was always accompanied by a security convoy but he asked not to be escorted by police on his last tour," Fatfat told reporters following a security meeting at the Grand Serail.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora convened the security meeting to discuss ongoing investigations into the assassination.

The meeting was attended by Fatfat, as well as Lebanese Army Commander General Michel Suleiman, State Prosecutor Said Mirza, and the heads of the Internal Security Forces, General Security, the Higher Defense Council, State Security and Army Intelligence.

Fatfat did not explain why Gemayel had told his security to stand down.

Asked about accusations made by members of the March 8 alliance that the parliamentary majority had a hand in the murder, he replied sarcastically, "yes, we are suicidal people."

"I would not be surprised if they say [former Prime Minister] Rafik Hariri committed suicide," he added, in a reference to Syria's former intelligence czar in Lebanon, Ghazi Kenaan, who was reported to have committed suicide last year but is widely believed to have been killed by high-ranking members of the Assad regime.

"The March 14 Forces have nothing to do but to kill themselves progressively ... We are killing the March 14 Forces one after another," Fatfat added. "Those who threw these accusations were so fast to comment on the assassination that it almost seems they knew it was going to happen."



Former Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh said on Tuesday that the anti-Syrian coalition could have assassinated Gemayel in order to "gain people's affection."

Fatfat said police were taking statements from witnesses to the shooting in Jdeideh as part of ongoing investigations into the killing.

Asked if there was any evidence as to who carried out the crime, Fatfat said: "It is very difficult to determine the parties right now, and I believe that we should not reveal details in order to preserve the integrity of the investigations."

Fatfat added that while new security measures have been adopted, in particular to protect prominent figures from being targeted with car bombs, "new forms of terrorism" were being developed.

Gemayel was shot by gunmen who rammed his car on a main street in the outskirts of the capital.

Fatfat said preliminary investigations had determined that a car had followed Gemayel after he left his office on Tuesday.

Reports said a sport-utility vehicle rammed the silver KIA sedan driven by Gemayel, at which point an unknown number of assailants jumped out of the SUV and opened fire on the driver's side window of the minister's car, killing Gemayel and one bodyguard and wounding at least two others.

Unidentified assailants also shot at Minister of State Michel Pharaon's office in Beirut on Tuesday. Fatfat did not comment on the second shooting during his briefing Wednesday.

Meanwhile, increased security measures were kept in place on Wednesday.

Police units erected checkpoints across the capital and conducted individual inspections of vehicles.