Zahleh Victims Buried, Gemayel Vows Punishment for Killers

by **Admin** Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:37 pm

Lebanon's
ruling coalition on Tuesday buried two slain members of the Phalange
Party in the eastern town of Zahle amidst tight security measures and a
pledge by ex-President Amin Gemayel that the crime would not go
unpunished.

"We
know who committed the Zahle crime … and it would not go unpunished,"
Gemayel told mourners at the provincial capital of east Lebanon's Bekaa
valley.

Salim
Assi and Nasri Marouni were gunned down by an assailant identified as
Joseph Zouki after celebrating the inauguration of a Phalange Party
office in Zahle.

Gemayel,
who lost his son industry minister and anti-Syrian MP Pierre in an
assassination attempt in November 2006, embraced the daughter of one of
the victims as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Portraits
of the two victims were hung all over Zahle, which had observed a
national mourning on Monday and where stores were closed for the
funeral.

Zouki
was described as a supporter of Christian opposition Zahle MP Elie
Skaff who is close to Christian opposition leader Gen. Michel Aoun.

Security forces are searching for Zouki and his brother, Toomi, who is thought to have also taken part in the attack.

Meanwhile, police launched a massive manhunt for the two suspected killers throughout the Bekaa and Mount Lebanon.