Lebanon Leader Assasinated - Middle East Continues to Destabilize

The name Gemayel is one of the most reviled across all of south Lebanon. Pierre, whose father still leads the Christian Militia Phalange, continued the tradition of being a lightning rod for controversy as part of the government coalition ruling Lebanon in it's move away from Syrian influence. The assasination was immediately blamed on Syria, but that is not entirely clear. Many benefit from his death, including others in his coalition, Hezbollah, and perhaps Syria.
Could Bashar really benefit from this death with all the negative pressure from the west, particularly the US and France? With his profile rising in the region, in part due to the victory of Hezbollah against Israel, he's been called into negotiations with Iraq and Iran to attempt to stabilize Syria's eastern border, perhaps he views he can spend some political capital on consolidating influence in Lebanon.
washingtonpost.com

One of Lebanon's most pronounced political crises in a generation slid into bloodshed Tuesday when assailants showered gunfire on a car carrying an anti-Syrian politician and scion of the country's most prominent Christian family, killing him and a bodyguard and pushing Lebanon a step closer to civil strife.


The assassination of Pierre Gemayel, a divisive figure in a country riven by sectarian tension, underlined the lack of red lines in the escalating struggle over Lebanon's political future that has followed this summer's war between Hezbollah and Israel. The struggle is crucial not only to the often zero-sum calculations of Lebanese politics but also to the regional ambitions of the United States, Iran, Syria and Israel.


"We will not allow assassins to control Lebanon's destiny and its people's future," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said.


The shots along a busy street that killed Gemayel, the industry minister, reverberated across Beirut as dusk fell. In the city's Shiite Muslim south, where Gemayel was among the most reviled of Christian politicians, occasional gunfire erupted in celebration and some residents expressed satisfaction at his death. Across town, in Christian East Beirut, his supporters set fires in protest along usually busy intersections, sending smoke eddying over emptied streets. At the hospital where he was taken, scores gathered in the lobby and parking lot. Some hurriedly spoke into phones. Their eyes red, women sobbed and men wailed with grief.


"We want revenge!" a few shouted. "We want revenge!"


"I have one wish," Gemayel's father, former president Amin Gemayel, told them after nightfall, "that tonight be a night of prayer to contemplate the meaning of this martyrdom and how to protect this country. I call on all those who appreciate Pierre's martyrdom to preserve his cause and for all of us to remain in the service of Lebanon. We don't want reactions and revenge."