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Islamist militants killed Lebanon minister -report
07 Jul 2007 09:46:08 GMT
Source: Reuters
BEIRUT, July 7 (Reuters) - Lebanese investigators have concluded that al Qaeda-inspired militants killed a Christian Lebanese minister late last year, a Lebanese newspaper reported on Saturday.

An-Nahar daily said results of the investigation into the Nov. 21 assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel would be made public soon and would show proof against Fatah al-Islam militants.

It gave little other details and there was no comment on the report from the authorities or the group.

Gemayel was gunned down while driving in a Christian suburb of Beirut. The country's ruling coalition, to whom Gemayel's Phalange Party belongs, accused Damascus of his killing. Syria denied any links.

Lebanon has been hit by a wave of assassinations and bombings since late 2004. A U.N. investigation team, set up after the 2005 killing of ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri, is looking into the attacks. The U.N. Security Council set up last month a special court to try any indicted suspects.

Lebanese troops are battling Fatah al-Islam militants at a refugee camp in north Lebanon since May 20. More than 200 people have been killed in the fighting at Nahr al-Bared.

Lebanese investigators found a car suspected of being used in Gemayel's murder last month during a crackdown against militants across the north, security sources have said.

The authorities had blamed Fatah al-Islam for a twin bus bombings in a Christian area near Beirut on February 13, killing three civilians. The group has denied any links.

The anti-Syrian government says the group is nothing more than a tool of Syrian intelligence. Damascus and Fatah al-Islam denies this. The group says it agrees with the ideology of al Qaeda, though it has no organisational ties to it.

Some of its members -- mainly Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians and Saudis -- have fought in Iraq.
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Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (R) and members of the families of kidnapped Israeli soldiers attend a rally calling for their release, in the northern Israeli town of Haifa July 12, 2007. Thursday marks one year since the start of the Second Lebanon War. The 34-day war erupted last July 12 after the guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid, then rocketed the Jewish state as Israel bombarded their strongholds in Lebanon, killing more than 1,200 Lebanese.



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