Leaders of Lebanon's pro-Western governing coalition lashed out at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese allies — President Emile Lahoud and Shiite militant group Hezbollah. They blamed Syria for the assassination of Pierre Gemayel.
The language of their speeches was politically incorrect. It angered the Shiites when they watched on television insults hurled at their faith and their leaders.
Amar al Mussawi, a member of Hizbullah's political wing, responded to the statements in an interview with al-Jazeera and said that "they (the anti-Syrian camp) did everything accept what they had to do.
Mr. Gemayel, 34, was the sixth outspoken critic of Damascus killed in the past two years. He was a government minister and symbol of Lebanon’s Christian, pro-Western community. Analysts and political pundits say that he has been killed because of his anti-Syrian stance. However, their line of reasoning does not sound plausible.
The Syrian embassy in Washington said in a statement. ''In a time when the international community is advocating more engagement with Syria, such an act only stands to undermine these initiatives.''
As far as Syria's interference in Lebanon is concerned America is responsible for this. In 1976, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger approved the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Then, in 1990, another American secretary of state, James Baker, gave the go-ahead for the Syrian army to return to the parts of Lebanon from which it had been excluded in 1982.
Western and Arab media is portraying as if the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah is responsible for all the woes of Lebanon. Is Hezbollah responsible for the crisis in Lebanon?
The conflict in Lebanon started when a Sunni leader called Maarouf Saad was shot dead in February 1975. In response to this attack, gunmen tried to kill Pierre Gemaye, grandfather of the slain minister, founder of the main right-wing Lebanese Christian militia. He survived the assassination attempt. However, it triggered off a cycle of revenge that culminated in the civil war.
Article comments
1 - Lord J
All communities should enjoy "equal rights"? Practice what you preach little Arab boy. When half-wit, living in 2006 B.C. Muslims actually begin to read and begin to understand the teachings of the Koran, and embrace life the way they embrace hatred, racism, cowardice, and death, the Arab community, and to a lesser extent the Muslim community, will not be viewed as creatures lower than the RAT!