Lebanese Say Goodbye To Slain Politician

Tens of thousands of Lebanese gathered to bid farewell to an assassinated young Christian politician Thursday, and his anti-Syrian allies turned his funeral into a powerful show of force against opponents led by the militant Shiite Muslim Hezbollah and their Syrian backers.

The coffin of Pierre Gemayel, wrapped in the flag of his Phalange Party — white with a green cedar emblem — was brought from his hometown and carried through applauding throngs in downtown Beirut to the St. George's Cathedral, where the packed congregation sang hymns.

In a rare move, the head of the Maronite Church, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, left his mountain headquarters to lead the funeral service, in which family and dignitaries, including France's foreign minister and the Arab League secretary general, were participating. The country's top Shiite politician, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a top Hezbollah ally, also attended.

Nearby Martyrs' Square was packed with tens of thousands of men, women and children, waving red, white and green Lebanese flags. Some carried posters with pictures of Gemayel, with the words "We want to live" and "Awaiting justice" written on them.

Gemayel, 34, was killed Tuesday when two cars blocked his vehicle at an intersection as he left a church and assassins shot him numerous times through a side window. His driver also was killed.

Peirre Gemayel was the sixth politician to be assassinated since the killing of the Prime Minister Rafik Hariri eighteen months ago, reports CBS News foreign correspondent Shiela MacVicar. An ongoing United Nations investigation has implicated the government of Syria in Hariri's death. There are few here today that do not believe this latest death is also the work of Syrian agents.

The rally, as expected, turned into a display of anti-Syrian feelings among mourners, and many burned pictures of Syria's president and Lebanon's pro-Syrian leaders. One man carried a large banner with the pictures of Lebanon's assassinated leaders and the words: "Syria's killing regime. Enough!"

Much of the anger was directed at President Emile Lahoud, a staunch Syria supporter, and protestors held signs calling for his removal. Lahoud was at the presidential palace, where heavy security measures were taken amid fears that protesters would later march there to attempt to force the president to resign.

There was so much uncertainty Thursday night that for their own safety, members of Lebanon's government were reported to be sleeping in the cabinet office building behind the protection of loyal Lebanese forces, reports MacVicar.

Anger also was pointed at Hezbollah, which had been calling for mass protests of its own in an effort to topple the Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's government. After Gemayel's killing, the guerrilla group said it would not hold demonstrations for the time being.

Gemayel supporter Joseph Hanna said he came to Thursday's rally to convey a message of support for the government and its struggle against Hezbollah.

"If they have 30,000 rockets, we have 30,000 words. They do not scare us," the 45-year-old car rental shop owner said in reference to Hezbollah's weapons.

Gemayel's coffin, wrapped in flags of the Phalange Party and Lebanon, was taken early Thursday from the family home through the town of Bikfaya in country's Christian heartland amid the applause of mourners, the firing of guns in the air and the toll of church bells. There, at the statue of his grandfather and party founder, the coffin began its journey to Beirut, stopping in towns along the way to be briefly greeted and carried by supporters.

The funeral was expected to revive the 2005 mass protests — the so-called "Cedar Revolution" — after Hariri's assassination which, along with international pressure, drove Syria to withdraw its army from the neighboring country after nearly three decades of control.

A massive turnout is certain to boost anti-Syrian forces, who are facing heavy pressure from Hezbollah and pro-Syrian groups seeking to unseat the Western-backed government. But it also raised fears it could be the first round of demonstrations that could bring the political standoff into the volatile streets.

While some supporters called for revenge against Syria and its allies, Gemayel's father — a former president — and the Maronite Church quickly called for calm, hoping to avert an explosion of violence in the multi-sectarian nation of 4 million, already struggling with a deepening political crisis.

Though Hezbollah officials said the group would take no action in the coming days to allow emotions to cool, they accused the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority of capitalizing on the murder for political ends to regroup.

"We were on the verge of taking to the streets," said Hussein Khalil, political adviser to Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. "The government coalition was in an unenviable position and was in a very big impasse. They needed blood to serve for them as kind of oxygen to give them a new life."

Gemayel's assassination introduced new tensions into the already dangerous power struggle in Lebanon. Shiites are backed by Syria and Iran. The government and its Sunni Muslim and Christian supporters are backed by the United States and the West.

Saniora asked the United Nations for "technical assistance" in finding Gemayel's killers, amid accusations that Syria was behind it. Damascus has condemned the assassination and denied any role in it.

The overwhelmingly Christian Phalange Party's call for turnout was to bid farewell to Gemayel and to "express the attachment to Lebanon's freedom, sovereignty, independence and the determination to continue the 'Cedar Revolution' till the end."

But Saad Hariri, son of the slain Hariri and main leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, has urged his mainly Sunni Muslim supporters to take part in the funeral to also rally out of loyalty for the late Hariri and "to renew the celebration of freedom in Lebanon and defend the international tribunal and justice."

Still, it was a major Sunni-Christian coming together particularly because the Phalange Party fielded the main Christian militia during the 1975-90 civil war between Muslims and Christians in which 150,000 were killed. But it also was clear it would further isolate the Shiites, led by Hezbollah and its ally Amal party, who make up the country's largest single sect.