Anti-Syrian leader warns of more Lebanon violence

Hundreds of Lebanese mourners pressed on Wednesday to touch the coffin of minister Pierre Gemayel whose assassination, blamed by his allies on Syria, stoked fears of more killings and a surge in factional violence.

Fear and anger gripped the country as it prepared to bury Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, a Christian, who was gunned down as he drove through a Beirut suburb on Tuesday. He was the sixth anti-Syrian politician to be killed in nearly two years.

Several prominent anti-Syrian leaders said the killing was the work of Damascus and they expected the murders of more politicians who had spearheaded protests that led to Syria's military withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005.

"It seems the Syrian regime will continue with the assassinations. I expect more assassinations but no matter what they do, we are here and we will be victorious," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said.

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

The murder also heightened 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 regards as a pro-U.S. cabinet.

Syrian envoys denied the accusations of its involvement in the killing and joined the wave of international condemnation.

Gemayel's funeral will take place on Thursday and the anti-Syrian coalition has urged a large turnout.

The 34-year-old's body was driven from a hospital near Beirut to his hometown of Bekfaya, northeast of the capital, where hundreds of weeping mourners walked behind the coffin, waving white-and-green flags of his Phalange Party.

As the procession made its way to Gemayel's family home, women on balconies threw rice and flower petals.

Hundreds of sympathizers scrambled to touch the coffin as it passed. Some mourners were so hysterical they could barely walk.

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

There was a heavy police and army presence in Bekfaya and in Christian neighborhoods of Beirut.

Pope Benedict called the assassination a brutal attack and urged the country's people to beware "the dark forces who are trying to destroy the country." Lebanese Maronite Christian Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir urged restraint.

Many Lebanese politicians also believe Syria was responsible for the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

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 in Lebanon.

The Security Council's action, 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, 34, was among cabinet members who voted last week to tentatively approve the U.N. plans submitted to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government.

Six mostly Hezbollah opposition ministers had resigned before the vote. Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud called the cabinet action illegitimate.

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

Hariri's son Saad and his allies quickly accused Damascus of killing Gemayel in an attempt to derail the U.N. tribunal. The death or resignation of two more ministers would now bring down Siniora's government.

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

The Gemayel assassination followed 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.

"The murderer, who knew exactly the Lebanese situation, wanted to impede the popular action called by Hezbollah... and delay the inevitable downfall of the government, which lost its legitimacy," Baath, a Syrian government daily, said.

The coffin of assassinated Christian politician Pierre Gemayel is carried towards the family home in Bikfaya, Lebanon Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006. Lebanon was engulfed in fear and gloom Wednesday as mourners came to the mountain town to pay last respects to Pierre Gemayel, whose assassination threatened to push the country's political crisis over the brink. Writing in arabic on coffin reads 'The Minister Sheikh Pierre Amin Gemayel, Nov. 21, 2006' referring to the date he was killed. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A Lebanese woman throws rice on the coffin of Lebanon's Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel in Bekfaya, November 22, 2006. (George Abdallah/Reuters)

Patricia Gemayel, wife of Lebanon's Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, reacts as his coffin passes in a street in Bekfaya, Lebanon, November 22, 2006. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

SSDD

VERY PARTIAL LIST OF ISLAMIC TERRORIST ACTIVITIES
Full list is pages and pages and pages and pages.

1968 Robert Kennedy assassinated
1972 Munich Olympics Sep-5,1972 (Black September)
1976 Entebbe Hostage Crisis, June 27, 1976
1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, Nov. 4, 1979 444 days
1979 Grand Mosque Seizure, Nov 20,1979
1981 Assassination of Egyptian President, Oct 6,1981
1982 Assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister, Sept 14, 1982
1983 Bombing of US Embassy in Beirut6, April 18,1983
1983 Bombing of Maring Barricks, Beruit, Oct 23,1983
1984 Hizballah Restaurant Bombing, April 12,1984
1985 Egyptian Airliner Hijacking, Nov 23,1985
1985 Rome Airport murders
1985 TWA Flight 847 hijacked, U.S. Navy diver murdered
1985 Achille Lauro hijacking, Homacidal maniac lived in saddams Iraq
1986 Aircraft Bombing in Greece, March 30, 1986
1988 Pan Am 747 Flight 103 Bombing, Lockerbie, 100's murdered
1988 Berlin Discoteque Bombing, Dec 21,1988
1992 Bombing in Israeli Embassy in Argentina, March 17,1992
1993 Attempted Assassination of Pres. Bush Sr., April 14,1993
1993 First World Trade Center bombing, February 26th, 7 Killed, Hundreds injured, Billions
1994 Air France Hijacking, Dec 24,1994
1995 Attack on US Diplomats in Pakistan, Mar 8,1995
1995 Military Installation Attack, Nov 13, 1995
1995 Kashmiri Hostage taking, July 4,1995
1996 Khobar Towers attack
1996 Sudanese Missionarys Kidnapping, Aug 17,1996
1996 Paris Subway Explosion, Dec 3,1996
1997 Israeli Shopping Mall Bombing, Sept 4, 1997
1997 Yemeni Kidnappings, Oct 30,1997
1998 Somali Hostage taking crisis, April 15,1998
1998 U.S. Embassy Bombing in Peru, Jan 15, 1998
1998 U.S. Kenya Embassy blown up, 100's murdered
1998 U.S. Tanzania Embassy blown up, 100's murdered
1999 Plot to blow up Space Needle (thwarted)
2000 USS Cole attacked, many U.S. Navy sailors murdered
2000-2003 Intifada against Israel - 100's dead and injured
2000 Manila Bombing, Dec 30,2000
2001 4 Commercial airliners hijacked, 250+ murdered
2001 World Trade Center attacked, 2800+ murdered
2001 Flight 93 murders
2001 Pentagon attacked, 180+ murdered
2002 Reporter Daniel Pearl, kidnapped and murdered
2002 Philippines American missionary, Filipino nurse killed
2002 July 4, El Al attack Los Angeles LAX, several murdered
2002 Bali bombing - 200 dead, 300 injured
2002 Yemen, French Oil Tanker attacked
2002 Marines attacked / murdered in Kuwait
2002 Washington D.C. sniper
2002 Russian Theater attacked, 100+ dead
2002 Nigerian riots against Miss World Pageant, 200 dead, dozens injured
2002 Mombasa Hotel Attacked, 12 dead, dozens injured
2002 Israeli Boeing 757 attacked by missiles, fortunately no one injured
2002 August Hotel bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia. 12 dead, dozens injured.
2003 Rusian concert bombing
2003 Phillipines airport and market bombing
2003 Foiled SAM plot in the USA
2003 UN Baghdad HQ Bombing
on and on and on and on their terrorism has gone .........

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