Crowds mourn Lebanon politician
By Marks Cannon,WNS Lebanon Correspondent
BEIRUT - Large crowds have greeted the coffin of assassinated Lebanese Maronite Christian politician Pierre Gemayel after its arrival in his home village. Supporters carried the coffin through the village of Bikfaya, east of Beirut, at the start of three days of mourning. There is tight security in the village and across the country ahead of the politician's funeral on Thursday. Mr Gemayel, the industry minister and a leading anti-Syrian figure, was shot in his car in a Christian area of Beirut. Many people in Lebanon blame Syria for the killing, although Damascus has denied any involvement and condemned the assassination.
Mr Gemayel, 34, was the fifth anti-Syrian Lebanese politician to be killed in the past two years. His killing on Tuesday came at a time of crisis in Lebanese politics. Last week, Lebanon's cabinet endorsed plans to set up a tribunal to try those suspected of killing former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri despite the resignations of six pro-Syrian ministers opposed to it. A UN report recently implicated Damascus in the killing of Hariri by a truck bomb in Beirut in February 2005. Syria denies the charges. The Security Council approved the plans for the tribunal on Tuesday. The Lebanese government will now be asked to approve it formally. Bells tolled and a huge crowd of mourners accompanied Mr Gemayel's coffin to the mountain village of Bikfaya. There was sombre applause from the crowd as the body passed. Women threw rice from balconies onto the coffin, which was draped in the striped flag of his Phalange party, and there were occasional bursts of guns fired into the air.
As a priest said prayers at the Gemayel family home, the minister's friends and family wept over his coffin. Mourners filed past, offering condolences to his father, former President Amin Gemayel. "It's an indescribable feeling," mourner Fadi Jalakh, 27, told Reuters news agency. "Those who killed him don't want the Lebanese to unite. Anything after this is going to make things worse." Mr Gemayel's supporters have called for a mass turnout at his funeral, and there is a large military presence both in the village and in Beirut. Independence Day celebrations that were due to take place on Wednesday have been cancelled throughout the country.
Mr Gemayel, 34, was the fifth anti-Syrian Lebanese politician to be killed in the past two years. His killing on Tuesday came at a time of crisis in Lebanese politics. Last week, Lebanon's cabinet endorsed plans to set up a tribunal to try those suspected of killing former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri despite the resignations of six pro-Syrian ministers opposed to it. A UN report recently implicated Damascus in the killing of Hariri by a truck bomb in Beirut in February 2005. Syria denies the charges. The Security Council approved the plans for the tribunal on Tuesday. The Lebanese government will now be asked to approve it formally. Bells tolled and a huge crowd of mourners accompanied Mr Gemayel's coffin to the mountain village of Bikfaya. There was sombre applause from the crowd as the body passed. Women threw rice from balconies onto the coffin, which was draped in the striped flag of his Phalange party, and there were occasional bursts of guns fired into the air.
As a priest said prayers at the Gemayel family home, the minister's friends and family wept over his coffin. Mourners filed past, offering condolences to his father, former President Amin Gemayel. "It's an indescribable feeling," mourner Fadi Jalakh, 27, told Reuters news agency. "Those who killed him don't want the Lebanese to unite. Anything after this is going to make things worse." Mr Gemayel's supporters have called for a mass turnout at his funeral, and there is a large military presence both in the village and in Beirut. Independence Day celebrations that were due to take place on Wednesday have been cancelled throughout the country.
posted by wnsworld @ 3:08 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home