Posted on 11/22/2006 6:41:49 AM PST by XR7
CAIRO - The assassination of Lebanese politician Pierre Gemayel has sent tremors through the Middle East, with the Arab League today warning of turmoil and Israel fearing regional destabilisation.
While governments across the region yesterday scrambled to condemn the murder in Beirut of the anti-Syrian industry minister, and Damascus expressed outrage that fingers were swiftly pointed in its direction, the full impact of the killing was still being assessed in Middle Eastern capitals.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa described the killing as a "terrorist assassination".
"This operation is condemned in the strongest way, as it could lead to turmoil in the country," Mussa said in a statement from the Arab League’s Cairo headquarters.
Gemayel, a 34-year-old Christian Maronite, was gunned down in a Beirut suburb yesterday, the latest in a string of assassinations of anti-Damascus figures in Lebanon over the past two years.
Israel, which fought a war this summer with Lebanon’s Hezbollah Shiite militia, quickly denied it had a hand in the killing. "The struggle continues in Lebanon and Israel is not involved," Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Israeli public radio.
"It’s a struggle between Hezbollah which wants to see an Iranian Lebanon and the majority of Lebanese who want a sovereign Lebanon... We need to monitor the situation closely," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed fears of regional repercussions in a telephone conversation yesterday with his Italian counterpart Romano Prodi.
"Mr Olmert ... expressed desire that the assassination of Pierre Gemayel does not cause destabilisation in the Middle East, because it is an internal Lebanese matter," said Olmert’s spokeswoman Miri Eisin.
In Riyadh, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, described the killing as a symptom of the country’s political crisis, while Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged the Lebanese people to avoid violence.
Iran condemned the killing as "cowardly", saying it was committed by "enemies of Lebanon", ISNA reported.
Newspapers reflected the sense of unease, with Jordan’s independent Al-Ghad giving a chilling warning that Gemayel’s murder is unlikely to be the last.
"No one knows who the forces of oppression and treachery, that are pushing Lebanon towards chaotic labyrinths and civil war, will add to the list of victims," it said.
Another independent daily, Al-Arab Al-Yawm, said the Lebanese were themselves to blame for the whirlwind of violence.
"Those responsible for the assassination of Pierre Gemayel, everything that happened before and what will happen in the future, are the Lebanese leaders themselves," it said.
"The responsibility lies in their disputes, alliances and their grudges, and it is also the result narrow-minded personal and sectarian interests."
Qatar’s Al-Charq daily appealed to Lebanese leaders not to allow the incident to be the trigger for a new civil war, while another daily, Al-Raya, applauded Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s appeal for calm.
In Lebanon itself, most papers agreed the killing had wrong footed Syria’s local supporters.
Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies had planned to take to the streets to demand the replacement of Siniora’s pro-Western cabinet with a government of national unity.
But after Gemayel’s murder, it was the anti-Syrian parties which were calling out their supporters for a mass funeral for the slain Christian politician, an outspoken opponent of Damascus.
"The mass funeral tomorrow will allow the ruling majority to return to the streets and the opposition has been left in disarray," said the pro-Syrian Al-Akhbar daily
Gee, everything had been so stable and free of turmoil before this.
...said the pro-Syrian Al-Akhbar daily.
"Allah Akhbar! Allah Akhbar!" Where have we heard that before?
Is Paris burning yet/again?
< subsequent comments self censored at this time >
---In Lebanon itself, most papers agreed the killing had wrong footed Syria’s local supporters.---
One minister down and one to go. Then they'll be right footed again.
---Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies had planned to take to the streets to demand the replacement of Siniora’s pro-Western cabinet with a government of national unity.---
Because they had planned on killing two ministers and forcing early elections.
She won't talk to me now for some reason.
Plunge the country into chaos, then "save it" with a boot on the throat. These people are exactly like Nazis. They sure did a lot of good for Lebanon this summer.
"Unease in Middle East after Lebanon killing"
Killing, is the one thing that doesn't cause unease in the middle east. It is the way of things there, like watching TV is here.
I find people take a very dim view of having their criminal stupidity pointed out... no matter how criminal the stupidity.
ping.
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Lebanese Fearful after Leader's Murder
AP ^ | 11/22/06
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1742595/posts
Posted on 11/22/2006 8:57:39 AM CST by Valin
BEIRUT, Lebanon, (AP) - With Independence Day celebrations canceled, Lebanon was engulfed in fear and gloom Wednesday as it prepared to bury Christian leader and Cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, whose assassination threatened to push a country in political crisis over the brink. Schools and shops were closed and traffic was light as Gemayel's coffin, draped in the flag of his Phalange Party, was driven to the family's home in Bikfaya for mourning ceremonies before the funeral scheduled for Thursday. A small crowd of mourners, some carrying Lebanese flags, walked slowly behind the vehicle carrying the coffin. Gemayel, minister of industry and scion of a prominent political family, was killed Tuesday when two cars blocked his vehicle at an intersection in the suburbs of Beirut and an assassin shot him numerous times through a side window of his car. His killing — the fifth murder of an anti-Syrian figure in Lebanon in two years — immediately drew condemnations from all quarters.
(snip)
Yep. She especially didn't like the link I sent her via e-mail which showed various photos of Hezbollah terrorists giving their Nazi salute.
The woman is as dumb as soot.
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