Lebanese bid farewell to slain Christian leader

BEIRUT – Lebanon began to bid farewell to an assassinated young Christian politician yesterday, and his anti-Syrian allies sought to turn an expected huge turnout at his funeral into a massive show of force against opponents led by the militant Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah and their Syrian backers.

About 2 000 people, some carrying flags of Lebanon and other burning pictures of Syria’s president and Lebanon’s pro-Syrian leaders, began convening in downtown Beirut in the morning, hours before Pierre Gemayel’s early afternoon funeral, which was expected to turn into a display of anti-Syrian feelings. Gemayel, 34, was killed on 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.He was the sixth anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in two years, including former prime minister Rafik Hariri who was slain in a massive bomb blast in Beirut in February 2005.Billboards of the slain industry minister featuring a picture of his shot up car appeared on major streets, and troops lined the roads yesterday in Gemayel’s hometown of Bikfaya in the Christian heartland of north Beirut.His coffin, wrapped in flags of the Phalange Party and Lebanon, was taken from the family home through Bikfaya’s main street to the entrance of the town.There, at the statue of his grandfather and party founder, the coffin was to be placed in a cortege and driven to Beirut.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 neighbouring country after nearly three decades of control.A massive turnout is expected 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.Before Gemayel’s slaying, Hezbollah had threatened to hold its own mass protests in an attempt to bring down the US-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.Nampa-APGemayel, 34, was killed on 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.He was the sixth anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in two years, including former prime minister Rafik Hariri who was slain in a massive bomb blast in Beirut in February 2005.Billboards of the slain industry minister featuring a picture of his shot up car appeared on major streets, and troops lined the roads yesterday in Gemayel’s hometown of Bikfaya in the Christian heartland of north Beirut.His coffin, wrapped in flags of the Phalange Party and Lebanon, was taken from the family home through Bikfaya’s main street to the entrance of the town.There, at the statue of his grandfather and party founder, the coffin was to be placed in a cortege and driven to Beirut.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 neighbouring country after nearly three decades of control.A massive turnout is expected 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.Before Gemayel’s slaying, Hezbollah had threatened to hold its own mass protests in an attempt to bring down the US-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.Nampa-AP

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