Anti-Syria Christian cabinet minister assassinated in Lebanon

I wonder who did it? Well, not really, as it’s easy to guess, but here’s the story nevertheless:

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Prominent anti-Syrian Christian politician Pierre Gemayel was assassinated in a suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, his Phalange Party radio station and Lebanon’s official news agency reported.

The shooting will certainly heighten the political tension in Lebanon, where the leading Muslim Shiite party Hezbollah has threatened to topple the government if it does not get a bigger say in Cabinet decision-making.

Witnesses said Gemayel was shot in his car in Jdeideh, a Christian neighborhood, his constituency on the northern edge of Beirut. The witnesses said a car rammed his car from behind and then an assassin stepped out and shot him at point blank range.

Gemayel was rushed to a nearby hospital, according to the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. and the Voice of Lebanon, the Phalange Party mouthpiece. The party radio later said he was dead, as did the National News Agency.

Gemayel is the third prominent figure in Lebanese politics to be assassinated in the past two years. Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in February 2005 and lawmaker and newspaper manager Gibran Tueni was killed in a car bombing in December

Allah’s on top of the story, as usual, and has the latest developments.

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