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Lebanese minister mourned; Syria blasted

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published November 24, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese flooded downtown Beirut on Thursday to mourn a Christian politician and vent at Syria, gearing up for a potential fight over power with the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah and other allies of Damascus.

As Pierre Gemayel's coffinpassed through mourners outside St. George's Cathedral, demonstrators at nearby Martyrs' Square rallied in support of the beleaguered U.S.-backed government, which is dominated by opponents of Syrian influence in its smaller neighbor.

Demonstrators, estimated at 800,000 by police, chanted slogans against Syria, which they accuse of killing Gemayel, and burned pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his top ally in Lebanon, President Emile Lahoud.

The assassination of Gemayel, the 34-year-old industry minister, in a daytime shooting Tuesday has raised the risk of turmoil in Lebanon, which the United States considers key in stemming Syrian and Iranian influence in the Middle East.

Many fear Lebanon's power struggle could move to the streets, at a time when the country is the most polarized since the 1975-90 civil war - divided between anti-Syrian Christians and Sunni Muslims and pro-Syrian Shiites. Each accounts for roughly a third of the population of 4-million.

While supporters of the Lebanese government vowed to oust Lahoud and seal the anti-Syrian bloc's full control of Lebanon's politics, they face Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran and by most Shiites. Hezbollah has threatened its own mass protests aimed at bringing down the government.

[Last modified November 24, 2006, 01:07:40]