Report: Fatah-Islam, Palestinian group behind minister assassination

Published July 7th, 2007 - 10:02 GMT

Lebanese investigators have concluded that al Qaeda-inspired militants killed a Christian Lebanese minister in 2006, 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.

 

Gemayel was assassinated 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 involvement.

 

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, according to Reuters. Lebanese sources claim Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command played a role in the murder.