Lebanese Christian Cabinet minister killed in shooting in Beirut suburb

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Pierre Gemayel, an anti-Syrian politician and scion of Lebanon's most prominent Christian family, was gunned down Tuesday in a carefully orchestrated assassination that heightened tensions between the U.S.-backed government and the militant Hezbollah.

Anti-Syrian politicians quickly accused Damascus, as they have in previous assassinations of Lebanese opponents of its larger neighbor. Gemayel, 34, an outspoken opponent of the Syrian-allied Hezbollah, was the fifth anti-Syrian figure killed in the past two years and the first member of the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to be slain.

The assassination, in Gemayel's mainly Christian constituency of Jdeideh, threatens further instability in Lebanon at a time when Hezbollah and other parties allied with Syria are planning a wave of street protests unless Saniora gives them more power.

In Washington, the State Department denounced the assassination as terrorism and an attempt to intimidate Saniora's government and at the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton raised the possibility of Syria's involvement. The United States has accused Syria and Iran of plotting to overthrow the government, which is dominated by anti-Syrian politicians.

Gemayel, Lebanon's industry minister and a member of the Phalange Party, had just left a church and was traveling through Jdeideh when a vehicle in front of him slammed to a stop, causing his car to ram into it, security officials said. Witnesses said Gemayel's car was also rammed from behind.

Three gunmen stepped out of the other vehicles and shot Gemayel at point-blank range with automatic weapons, security officials said.

Video showed Gemayel's car, which apparently had been shot at from both sides: The passsenger-side window was shattered and the driver's-side window was dotted with about a dozen bullet holes, and the front hood was crumpled.

Gemayel's driver, who was wounded but survived, rushed the gravely injured politician to a nearby hospital. Soon afterward, Voice of Lebanon — the Phalange-run radio station — reported Gemayel was dead.

Damascus' opponents in Lebanon have accused Syria of being behind previous assassinations, particularly that of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a massive explosion in downtown Beirut in February 2005.

Syria has denied any role and condemned Tuesday's assassination. "This despicable crime aims to destroy stability and peace in Lebanon," the state news agency said.