LEBANON: The assassination of Lebanon's industry minister, Pierre Gemayel, has led to recriminations within the country's fractious Christian community.
Mr Gemayel's father, former president Amine Gemayel, yesterday lashed out at the pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, blaming Damascus "even if there is no solid proof" for his son's death. Others targeted another Christian leader, Gen Michel Aoun, who in last year's elections allied himself with some pro- Syrian leaders.
Tension was so high in the hours after Tuesday's murder of the anti-Syrian minister that posters of Gen Aoun - the most popular Christian leader in the country - were torn down in Christian areas. One anti-Syrian Christian politician, Boutros Harb, said he understood the anger at Gen Aoun among some in the Christian community.
While careful not to implicate anybody, he said Gen Aoun's alliance with the pro-Syrian Hizbullah party contributed to the climate in which the killing took place. Mr Harb is a member of a separate gathering of anti-Syrian Christians.
Among the wrangling points between the pro and anti-Syrian Christian camps in Lebanon is the position of the president, who under the constitution has to be a Maronite Christian.
The Christian community - just over a one-third of the population and dominated by Maronites - is deeply divided between pro and anti-Syrians.
Despite their lower numbers, Lebanon's constitution allocates 50 per cent of seats in parliament to Christians. The Gemayels and their right-wing Phalange party have been mostly anti-Syrian after Damascus intervened in the 1975-1990 civil war.
Bashir Gemayel, uncle of the murdered minister, led the largest Christian militia during that war, the Lebanese Forces. He was killed by a bomb in 1982, shortly after being elected president. His brother Amine was then elected president in his place.
Another anti-Syrian Christian leader, Samir Geagea, has his roots in the civil war. Mr Geagea took over the Lebanese Forces and was the only militia leader to be jailed after the war. He was released in 2005 after Syria withdrew from Lebanon and now heads the LF parliamentary bloc.
Gen Aoun was also considered anti-Syrian until his return from exile last year. As head of the rump Lebanese army at the end of the civil war, he fought Mr Geagea's Lebanese Forces and an ill-fated "war of liberation" against the Syrians in 1989-1990.
In 2005's elections, he allied himself with traditional Christian and Sunni supporters of Syria. His was the only main bloc in parliament left out of government.