(dpa) - Two Christian Phalange members
were killed and three were wounded Sunday when unidentified gunmen opened fire
on the party's headquarters in Zahle in eastern Lebanon, Lebanese police said.
According to police, automatic-weapons fire from a speeding car was directed at
the Phalange party headquarters as the group was inaugurating their new office.
A witness said that a son of Lebanese former president Amin Gemayel, head of
the Phalange party, had just left the headquarters after the inauguration.
Gemayel's oldest son, Pierre, a minister and member of Parliament, was killed
in car bombing on November 21, 2006.
A statement by the Phalange party identified the slain Phalange members as Nasri
Marouni and Salim Assi.
The statement said the shooting took place around 4 pm.
Amin Gemayel immediately summoned members of the Phalange party's politburo to
his mansion in Bekfaya, east of Beirut, to discuss the deadly shooting,
according to the statement. He called for calm and urged the government
and its security authorities to bring the assailants to justice without delay.
"The criminal is known. We demand that the government and the security
forces put their hands on the criminals as soon as possible," Gemayel
said.
Shortly after the shooting, police and army soldiers cordoned
off the area to prevent any escalation of tensions.