Jumblatt singles out Damascus in murder

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Jumblatt singles out Damascus in murder

CHOUF: MP Walid Jumblatt said Wednesday that the assassination of Industy Minister Pierre Gemayel was aimed at reducing the number of anti-Syrian members in the Cabinet and undermining attempts to form an international court to try suspects in the 2005 killing of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

"Those who fear the implementation of justice will obstruct the creation of the tribunal, including [President Emile] Lahoud, who wants to protect himself or some of his officers," the March 14 Forces leader told reporters at his residence in Mukhtara.

"We represent legitimacy and they are illegitimate," he added, in reference to his political adversaries.

Jumblatt called on Speaker Nabih Berri to convene a parliamentary session to approve a UN draft for the formation of the Hariri tribunal.

"It will be for the sake of Lebanon, for the sake of Lebanon's unity and stability if Berri decided to make this historic step and hold a parliamentary session," the Druze leader said.

Jumblatt accused Syria of ordering the murder of Gemayel and warned that more Lebanese politicians could be targeted in the near future.

"I bluntly accuse the Syrian regime ... I expect more assassinations," Jumblatt said.

He further accused Syria of attempting to topple the Lebanese government and preventing it from forming the international court.

"The Cabinet will convene and will approve this tribunal," Jumblatt said.

With the Cabinet down to just 17 ministers from its original roster of 24 after the killing and the earlier resignation of six ministers, the loss of just one more minister would cause Premier Fouad Siniora's government to lose the quorum required by the Constitution.

"They might kill another minister, it is very possible, very plausible," Jumblatt said.

"They might of course kill other members of Parliament ... to reduce the majority in Parliament. They can do anything, because his only fear, Bashar's, is not to be indicted somewhere by the tribunal," Jumblatt said, referring to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Jumblatt said Assad could not afford to allow the court to be formed "because he knows that if a single corporal, a single individual, in Syria is involved in the crimes ... The totalitarian system [in Syria] is all involved."

Jumblatt also called on the five Shiite ministers who resigned to return to their posts "for the sake of national unity."

The ministers, representing Hizbullah and Amal, walked out of the Cabinet on November 11 over a failure to form a national unity government at national talks. A sixth minister, Environment Minister Yaacoub Sarraf - a Christian considered an ally of Lahoud - stepped down two days later.

Jumblatt urged a swift resumption of the roundtable talks between the country's political factions.

"What is true independence?" he asked. "Independence is diversity and plurality; it is the respect of the human being, like what the distressed father, Amin Gemayel, said Tuesday."

"Independence is facing fascist regimes," Jumblatt added.

In reference to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Jumblatt said: "Following the July-August war, the divine victor started to call for a national unity Cabinet just a few days after the end of war and because the issue of the international tribunal was witnessing a progress in international organizations with the support of powerful countries."

"Beware of provocation because it represents a danger to all of us," Jumblatt said.

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Pressure, both direct and indirect, mounts on Syria


Britain on Wednesday refused to point the finger at Syria for the killing of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, while Western and Arab leaders voiced fears of further unrest in Lebanon and beyond.

Amid Prime Minister Tony Blair's efforts to involve Damascus in the regional peace process, the British government pointedly adopted a wait and see approach to the assassination.

"In terms of Syria, we have made it clear - and Sir Nigel Sheinwald made it clear during his visit - that Syria's conduct in Lebanon was one of the criteria by which we would judge whether they were playing a constructive role or not in the Middle East as a whole," said Blair's official spokesman. He was referring to a visit last month to Damascus by Blair's senior foreign policy adviser.

"Reiterating that, however, should not be seen as pointing the finger at Syria," the spokesman added, "because what we shouldn't do at this stage is make assumptions. The prime minister strongly believes that it is still important that we do get a process going in the Middle East. You always have to push for progress and that's what he will do.

Blair denounced the killing Tuesday just hours after hailing the resumption of diplomatic relations between Iraq and Syria.

Given Washington's considerably stronger language toward Damascus, it is unclear where a potential involvement of Syria in Gemayel's death will leave Blair's push for peace.

Any rapprochement would likely see Damascus wanting the international community to drop its plans for a UN tribunal examining alleged Syrian involvement in the assassination, one analyst said.

President George W. Bush also refrained from directly implicating Syria but accused Damascus and Tehran of "fomenting unrest" in Lebanon.

On Wednesday, Bush called Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to underscore US support for Lebanon's democracy and independence, the White House said.

"President Bush reiterated to Prime Minister Siniora the unwavering commitment of the United States to help build Lebanese democracy, and to support Lebanese independence from the encroachments of Iran and Syria," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

The spokesman said Bush also "pointed out that violence and unrest in Lebanon will not stop the international community from establishing the special tribunal for Lebanon."

Within the region, the Syrian ambassador to Washington, Imad Mustafa, said the killing of Gemayel was an attempt by Syria's enemies to frustrate its desire for engagement with Washington over the deteriorating situation over Iraq.

"Isn't it strange that whenever the situation would become slightly, slightly toward engagement with Syria, every time this happens, immediately an assassination takes place?" he said on CNN on Wednesday.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa called the killing of Gemayel a "terrorist assassination," adding that he feared "it could lead to turmoil in the country."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abou al-Gheit said the assassination "did not target Minister Gemayel alone. It targeted the stability of all of Lebanon, at a time when Lebanon was seeking solutions to its problems.

"These sensitive circumstances highlight the need for the truth to be unveiled," he told reporters, urging Lebanese leaders to remain united.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the killing in a telephone conversation with Siniora as "an attempt to prevent Lebanon from pursuing its path toward national unity and an independent state," a view echoed in a statement Wednesday by French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy.

"What is urgent ... is for those who carried out and masterminded these murders to be made to answer for their crimes," he said. "What is happening is a destabilization of Lebanon, and we must respond with the greatest firmness."

While saying he would "obviously avoid designating the guilty party," Douste-Blazy criticized Syria and Iran the day before the killing for "pushing for the destabilization" of the Siniora government.

In response, Iran accused France of exacerbating the political crisis in Lebanon.

The French have "always aggravated the crisis in Lebanon," and the latest remarks show an "ignorance to the Lebanese will," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Husseini was quoted as saying by the Iranian Student News Agency.

Iran also condemned the killing of Gemayel, dubbing it a "cowardly" assassination.

Also Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI condemned the slaying as "brutal," saying Lebanon was "faced with obscure forces seeking to destroy the country."

"I call on all Lebanese not to let themselves be conquered by hate but instead to consolidate national unity, justice and reconciliation and work together to build a universal peace," the pope told followers in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican during his weekly audience.

Japan said it felt "extreme shock" and "strongly condemned this act," according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.

Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert, speaking late Tuesday by telephone with Italian Premier Romano Prodi, described the killing as an internal Lebanese matter, adding that he hoped it would not lead to national or regional unrest.

[Janjoon-Lebanese]

BTW , the Gemayel Family also acsued the Syrian Regime in the murder
and good news :

THE UN CONICL has APPROVED PM Sanyora's request to JOIN Pierre Gemayel's assassination to the International Tribunal and the investigations related !