Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora chaired in Beirut on
Wednesday a meeting of the Lebanese Central Security Council to
discuss developments regarding the assassination of Industry
Minister Pierre Gemayel.
Following the meeting, Lebanon's acting Interior Minister Ahmad
Fatfat told reporters that general attorney and heads of security
bodies briefed Seniora with the latest developments on the Gemayel
case.
"Security authorities had been questioning a substantial number
of eyewitnesses," Fatfat said.
The minister denied any insufficiency in the work of the
security authorities, noting Gemayel had been warned before the
attack by his bodyguards of possible dangers and told to leave the
convoy.
Fatfat also said that the Lebanese army and the security forces
would jointly safeguard the public funeral of Gemayel in central
Beirut today, adding that the Lebanese Army would be in
command.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt accused Syria of
ordering the killing of Gemayel and warned of more similar
assassinations, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. TV reported.
"I accuse bluntly the Syrian regime... I expect more
assassinations," Jumblatt, a key member of Lebanese anti-Syrian
parliament majority, told a press conference at his Mukhtara
hometown in the Chouf mountains.
"Yesterday they assassinated Pierre Gemayel in order to reduce
the number of cabinet ministers so as to diminish the (anti-Syrian
ruling) majority," Jumblatt said.
He accused Syria of seeking to bring down Prime Minister Fouad
Seniora's government to prevent it from going ahead with plans for
an international court to try the suspects in the murder of former
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which has been approved by
the 15 members of the UN Security Council on late Tuesday.
According to Lebanese law, if eight ministers, or one third of
the 24-member cabinet, quit the government, the government
dissolves automatically, which would lead to the miscarriage of the
already approved international tribunal.
After the resignation of the six pro-Syrian ministers and the
death of Gemayel, the cabinet is on the brink of the collapse
now.
At the key moment, the Druze leader appealed to the six
pro-Syrian ministers who resigned from the cabinet earlier this
month to return to their jobs for the sake of national unity.
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He also urged a swift resumption of round-table talks between all
the country's political factions, which failed when Seniora called
for a cabinet meeting to approve the draft to form the
international tribunal to try Hariri's suspected assassins.
The 34-year-old Gemayel was shot dead late Tuesday by a gunshot
on his head when his convoy was attacked in Jedeide, about 15 km
northeast from Beirut.
(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2006 )
