Lebanon braces for power struggle after killing

LEBANON: Lebanon braced on Wednesday for a bitter power struggle after the assassination of an anti-Syrian Christian cabinet minister which his allies blamed on Syria.

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

Hours later, the U.N. Security Council approved plans for a special international court to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

The action by the 15-nation 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.

Hariri's son Saad and his allies quickly accused Damascus of killing Gemayel in an attempt to derail the tribunal. Many Lebanese blame Syria for killing Hariri.

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

It also strongly condemned Gemayel's killing.

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-U.S. government.

"We believe the hand of Syria is all over the place," Saad al-Hariri, whose father Rafik was killed in a suicide bombing, said shortly after Gemayel was shot dead.

Anti-Syrian Druze leader Walid Jumblatt openly accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regarding the Gemayel shooting.

"Only the tribunal will deter the killer in Damascus. Bashar is scared. That is why he opted for killing to avoid punishment," he said.

Syrian Information Minister Muhsen Bilal denied any Syrian link to the latest murder.

"Those who accuse Syria in this narrow and defeated manner do not have a grain of truth or credibility... How can they make an accusation at the very first minute?" he said.

Saad later called for a large turnout at Gemayel's funeral on Thursday. "The day we bid farewell to Pierre Gemayel, is the day to defend the international court and justice," he said.

Meanwhile world leaders condemned the killing on Tuesday of a Lebanese Christian cabinet minister, with Western powers vowing to do their utmost to prevent the collapse of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's unsteady government.

U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking in Hawaii, called for a full investigation to "identify those people and those forces behind the killing."

Finland, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, urged all political factions in Lebanon to "refrain from activities that would further endanger the political stability ... (and) reiterates the EU's full support to the legitimate and democratically elected Lebanese government."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also voiced support to Siniora, whose government has been rocked by a devastating July-August conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and the resignation of six pro-Syrian ministers this month.

"We need to do everything we can, particularly at this moment, to protect democracy in Lebanon and the premiership of Prime Minister Siniora," Blair said.

Beirut, Wednesday, Reuters