Gemayel Murder Portends New Bloodshed in Lebanon

Even before the killing of a key Christian politician, Beirut was primed for trouble. Now, it may be hard to avoid confrontation.

The streets of Beirut filled with cars fleeing the city as soon as news spread that one of Lebanon's most prominent Christian politicians, Pierre Gemayel, had been assassinated in the capital. The killing of his uncle, President Bashir Gemayel, in 1982, marked the beginning of a particularly bloody chapter in Lebanon's 15-year Civil War. And the fear now spreading through the country is that this latest attack could usher in a similar period of heightened violence.