Christian Cabinet minister shot

Lebanese Cabinet minister and Christian leader Pierre Gemayel was shot and seriously wounded on a street in a Christian suburb of Beirut today, Christian TV and radio stations reported.

The shooting – at a time when Lebanese political and sectarian tensions already are at fever pitch – seemed certain to intensify the tensions, regardless of who was responsible.

The Christian TV station reported that Gemayel was seriously wounded.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. and Voice of Lebanon, the Phalange Party mouthpiece reported.

Gemayel, the minister of industry and son of former President Amin Gemayel, is a member of the Phalange party and supporter of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, which is locked in a power struggle with pro-Syrian factions led by Hezbollah.