Pierre Gemayel death shakes UN as it seeks justice for previous murders

Nov 21, 2006, 18:14 GMT

New York - The murder of anti-Syrian Lebanese politician Pierre Gemayel in Beirut on Tuesday shook the United Nations as it was seeking to bring to justice those responsible for other murders in the war-torn country, including the death of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called it a 'cold-blooded murder.' US Ambassador John Bolton called the shooting death of Gemayel, the minister of industry, a 'political assassination' that should be investigated.

'We have to support the democratic forces in Lebanon against this politically motivated assassination, this is not a way to change a government,' Bolton told reporters.

'This is why we need the tribunal established as soon as possible and why it's correct to expand the mandate of the Serge Brammertz investigation and why the tribunal needs the flexibility (for) the perpetrators of the other political assassinations,' he said.

Annan noted that the 'cold-blooded murder was carried out one day after the Security Council considered a report on the establishment of the special tribunal for Lebanon.'

'Such acts of terrorism are unacceptable and have no place in a democratic and open society,' Annan said. He said Gemayel believed 'strongly in an independent, democratic and united Lebanon.'

While UN diplomats preferred not to link the death of Gemayel with previous assassinations that many Lebanese said were plotted by Syria, an agitated Bolton hinted to a connection with Damascus.

'If you look at evidence of past political assassinations (in Lebanon), people can draw their own conclusions,' Bolton said.

He strongly rejected charges that US interference in the Middle East caused instability.

'How incredibly wrong that could be,' Bolton said, urging the UN to seek justice for the murders. 'They're killing people in Lebanon and they are assassinating political leaders.'

The UN Security Council was expected to approve the creation of a UN tribunal to try those responsible for the murder of Hariri and at least 14 murders of people known for their anti-Syrian views.

The Hariri murder has been under investigation by a UN commission headed by Belgian prosecutor Brammertz, and initial findings have shown .

Gemayel was shot and killed Tuesday in a Christian neighbourhood of Beirut, Lebanese police said. Gemayel died on his way to the hospital.

Bolton said the shooting death of Gemayel was a 'turning point' in the history of Lebanon and the UN should urged Middle East countries to support democracy in Lebanon and the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

The tribunal would also have jurisdiction over murders of Lebanese journalists and politicians who opposed Syria's military presence in Lebanon, which ended in May, 2005.

The UN and the Lebanese government negotiated and agreed on the terms for the tribunal, which will have between 11 and 14 independent judges who will serve in trial and appeals chambers. A single international judge will serve as a pre-trial judge. The Lebanese government and the UN secretary general will discuss the judges' appointments.

A prosecutor will be appointed by the UN secretary general for a three-year period.

The headquarters of the tribunal will be situated outside of Lebanon in consideration of 'justice and fairness, administrative efficiency, the rights of the victims and proximity to witnesses ... security arrangements and affordable costs,' the UN said.