Prominent Lebanese Politician Assassinated

Prominent anti-Syrian Christian politician Pierre Gemayel was assassinated in a suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, increasing tensions in Lebanon amid a showdown between opponents and allies of Damascus that threatens to topple the U.S.-backed government.

Gemayel, the industry minister, was the fifth anti-Syrian figure to be killed in the past two years and the first member of the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to be slain.

Saniora went on national television to call for unity and warned that "sedition" was being planned against Lebanon. He linked the slaying to the issue that sparked the crisis with Hezbollah: plans to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri before an international court.

"I pledge to you that your blood will not go in vain," Saniora said, eulogizing Gemayel. "We will not let the murderers control the fate of Lebanon and the future of its children."

The assassination, in an afternoon shooting 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 massive wave of street protests unless Saniora reforms his government to give them more power.

President Bush denounced Tuesday's assassination of a Lebanese leader as "the vicious face of those who oppose freedom" and said that Syria and Iran are trying to undermine the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

"We support the Saniora government and its democracy, and we support the Lebanese people's desire to live in peace," Mr. Bush said after having breakfast with U.S. troops stationed in Hawaii. "And we support their efforts to defend their democracy against attempts by Syria, Iran and allies to foment instability and violence in that important country."

Mr. Bush is voicing concerns that this latest political killing will undermine Lebanon's already shaky government, CBS Radio News correspondent Peter Maer reports. And the president is already trying to rally support for Saniora's government.

Mr. Bush did not specifically blame Iran or Syria for the shooting death of Pierre Gemayel, one of the country's most prominent Christians, but he urged a full investigation to identify "those people and those forces" behind the killing.

In New York, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton, raised the possibility of Syrian involvement in the slaying of Gemayel.

Referring also to an investigation into Hariri's assassination, Bolton told reporters: "I think people can draw their own conclusions."

Syria condemned the assassination. "This despicable crime aims to destroy stability and peace in Lebanon," the state news agency said, affirming Syria's keenness on Lebanon's stability, security and unity.

Damascus' opponents in Lebanon have accused Syria of being behind previous assassinations, particularly that of Hariri, who was killed in a massive explosion in downtown Beirut in February 2005. Syria has denied any role.

Gemayel was driving in his car in Jdeideh when another vehicle rammed him from behind, then a gunmen stepped out of the vehicle and shot him at point-blank range. Footage from the scene showed Gemayel's car, the driver's-side window dotted by nearly a dozen bulletholes, and the second car behind it with a crumpled hood.

Gemayel was rushed to a nearby hospital seriously wounded, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. and Voice of Lebanon, the radio station run by his Phalange Party, reported.

The party radio later said he was dead, as did the National News Agency.

Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, broke off a televised news conference after hearing that Gemayel had been shot.

In an interview with CNN later, Hariri hailed Gemayel as "a friend, a brother to all of us" and appeared to break down after saying: "we will bring justice to all those who killed him."

Hariri implicitly blamed Syria for the assassination, saying, "We believe the hand of Syria is all over the place."

Gemayel was the scion of one of Lebanon's most prominent political families and had been expected to carry it into the next generation. His father, current Phalange leader Amin Gemayel, served as Lebanon's president between 1982 and 1988 and his grandfather, the late Pierre Gemayel, led the right-wing Christian Phalanage Party that fielded the largest Christian militia and was allied with Israel during the 1975-90 civil war between Christians and Muslims.

Amin Gemayel's brother, Bashir, was elected president in 1982 but was assassinated days before he was to take office in an explosion.

The slain Pierre Gemayel was a prominent figure in Lebanon's anti-Syrian bloc, which dominates Saniora's Cabinet and the parliament — and which is now locked in a power struggle with the Muslim Shiite Hezbollah and its allies.

On Sunday, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah threatened a wave of street protests aimed at bringing down the government if it ignores the group's demand to form a national unity Cabinet, in which Hezbollah and its allies would have considerable influence and would be able to block major decisions.

Nasrallah accused Saniora's government of falling under the influence of the President Bush's administration and called it "illegitimate" and "unconstitutional."

Gemayel's assassination was the first since Gibran Tueni, prominent anti-Syrian newspaper editor and lawmaker, was killed in a car bomb in December. In June 2005, the journalist and activist Samir Kassir and former Communist Party leader George Hawi were killed in separate car bombings in June last year.