Lebanese minister assassinated
Hariri's son blames Syria
Gunmen yesterday assassinated Lebanese Christian cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, an outspoken critic of Syria, plunging Lebanon deeper into a crisis over ties with its dominant neighbour.
At least three gunmen rammed their car into Mr Gemayel's vehicle near Beirut, then leapt out and riddled it with bullets, firing at Mr Gemayel with silencer-equipped automatic weapons at point-blank range in a Christian neighbourhood, witnesses said.
Ten bullet holes were seen around the window of the driver's seat of his grey car. The two front seats were soaked in blood.
The son of assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri blamed Syria for the killing, but Damascus condemned the murder.
The assassination is certain to heighten tensions in Lebanon amid a deep political crisis pitting the anti-Syrian majority against the pro-Damascus opposition led by Hezbollah, which is determined to topple what it sees as a pro-US government.
Mr Gemayel, 34, was rushed to hospital where he later died of his wounds. Hundreds of angry and weeping family members and supporters gathered at the hospital.
"We believe the hand of Syria is all over the place," Saad al-Hariri, whose father Rafik was killed in a suicide bombing last year, said from Beirut shortly after Gemayel was shot dead.
"Syria strongly condemns the killing," the official Syrian news agency Sana said. The Shi'ite group Hezbollah also condemned the "low criminal act" and urged an investigation. The assassination came after a devastating July-August conflict in south Lebanon between Israeli forces and Hezbollah. It also coincided with UN Security Council moves to create a tribunal to try those suspected of Mr Hariri's assassination.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Mr Gemayel's killing would make Lebanon more determined to set up the international court. Many Lebanese blame Syria for the killing of Mr Hariri in a suicide truck bombing in February 2005.
Damascus denies involvement, though a UN commission investigating the assassination has implicated senior Lebanese and Syrian security officials.
US President George W. Bush condemned Mr Gemayel's shooting and urged an investigation to "identify those people and those forces behind the killing." French President Jacques Chirac and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana echoed Mr Bush's call.
Six pro-Syrian ministers resigned from Mr Siniora's cabinet this month and with Mr Gemayel's death, the deaths or resignations of two more ministers would bring down the government.
Pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its allies are preparing to take to the streets to topple Mr Siniora's government, arguing it has lost its legitimacy since Shi'ite Muslims are no longer represented.
After Mr Gemayel's slaying, angry anti-Syrian protesters in the Christian town of Zahle in east Lebanon blocked streets and shouted slogans against Hezbollah and Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, but Mr Gemayel's father urged against revenge.
Recent political violence in Lebanon
Here is a chronology of political killings and attacks in Lebanon since Rafik al-Hariri's death in February 2005.
February 14 - Former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and 22 others are killed by truck bomb in Beirut. Top aide former economy minister and legislator Basil Fuleihan is badly burnt in the attack and dies in hospital two months later.
June 2 - Samir Kassir, journalist opposed to Syria's role in Lebanon, is killed in Beirut by bomb in his car.
June 21 - Former Communist Party leader and critic of Syria George Hawi is killed in Beirut by a bomb in his car.
July 12 - Car bomb wounds caretaker Defence Minister Elias al-Murr and kills one person in Christian area north of Beirut.
September 25 - May Chidiac, a Christian television journalist critical of Syria, is seriously wounded by a bomb in her car.
December 12 - Gebran Tueni, staunchly anti-Syrian member of parliament and Lebanese newspaper magnate is killed by a car bomb in Beirut. An unknown group, "Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom of the Levant", claims responsibility.
November 21, 2006 - Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel is killed by gunmen as his convoy drives through the Christian Sin el-Fil neighbourhood of Beirut.