Lebanon suspects militants in death

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Police suspect that an al-Qaida-inspired militant group battling army troops in northern Lebanon was behind the assassination of a Christian Cabinet minister last year, a security official said Saturday.

The security official confirmed a report in Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper that police have turned up evidence of Fatah Islam’s involvement in the death of former Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements, said interrogations of Fatah Islam detainees show that the al-Qaida-inspired group was involved in the assassination.

He said details would soon be made public and already have been shared with a U.N. commission investigating Gemayel’s death and a string of other assassinations, including the February 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Lebanon’s ruling coalition has implied that Syria was behind the assassinations. Syria, which denies the allegations, long controlled Lebanon until its military was forced to pull out in 2005 because of international pressure in the wake of Hariri’s death.

Lebanese government officials also accuse Syria of backing Fatah Islam to stir up trouble here. Syria denies the claim, saying it considers Fatah Islam a dangerous terrorist organization.

Gemayel was shot dead at an intersection north of Beirut on Nov. 21.

A Lebanese cabinet minister, Ahmed Fatfat, told the satellite TV station Al-Arabiya that Fatah Islam’s involvement in Gemayel’s assassination is “much clearer” than before, but that investigations were continuing.

Asked if there were other suspects, Fatfat said, “Unfortunately it looks like it is confined to Fatah Islam, and, behind it unfortunately, are hands linked to Syrian intelligence agencies.”