The Wire

Tensions are set to rise between Lebanon and its neighbours following the murder of a prominent minister today. Cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel a strong Syrian critic, was shot dead by three gunmen. Prime Minister Fouad Siniara has declared the murder as an act of terrorism and says the nation is now, more than ever, in a position to set up the International Court. The murder coincides with the UN Security Council’s move to create a tribunal to try those suspected of former Prime Minister Radic Hariri’s assassination in February 2005. Dr Benjamin MacQueen is a research fellow at the centre for Muslim minorities and Islam Policy Studies at Monash University, explains what this murder meant for Lebanon