The UN Security Council on Wednesday directed UN investigators to provide Beirut with technical help in investigating the murder of anti-Syrian Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
It made the decision in answer to a letter from UN chief Kofi Annan relaying a request from Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora for UN assistance "to investigate the murder of Mr. Gemayel".
Siniora specifically asked for help from the UN panel probing the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's former premier Rafiq Hariri. The commission is headed by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz.
The council, in a letter to Annan sent late Wednesday, said it was "determined to support the government of Lebanon in its efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of the assassination of Pierre Gemayel and other assassinations."
To that end, council members invited the Brammertz-led panel to "extend its technical assistance as appropriate to the Lebanese authorities in this investigation."
Gemayel, a 34-year-old Christian Maronite politician, was critically wounded following an attack by gunmen in a Beirut suburb on Tuesday and died soon afterwards in a nearby hospital. He was the latest victim in a string of attacks on Lebanese anti-Syrian politicians over the past two years.
Earlier Wednesday, US Ambassador John Bolton told reporters that in his view there was no end date on the assistance that the Security Council authorised the UN enquiry panel to provide Lebanon in probing not only the Hariri slaying but 14 other attacks on anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians.
Last September, the head of the UN panel, Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, said that one of his priorities was establishing "the depth, breadth and nature" of links between the Hariri murder and the 14 other attacks on Lebanese foes of Syria.
The 14 cases, which Lebanese authorities have been probing with UN help, include assassinations and assassination attempts targeting anti-Syria Lebanese figures, as well as attacks on commercial interests.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday condemned the murder of Gemayel and endorsed plans for an international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri murder pending final approval by Lebanese authorities.
The tribunal blueprint now has to be formally approved by the Lebanese parliament and ratified by the president with the agreement of the prime minister.
In a telephone call to Siniora, US President George W. Bush "pointed out that violence and unrest in Lebanon will not stop the international community from establishing the special tribunal for Lebanon," the White House said Wednesday.
Bush also "reiterated to Prime Minister Siniora the unwavering commitment of the United States to help build Lebanese democracy, and to support Lebanese independence from the encroachments of Iran and Syria," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
Lebanon prepared to lay Gemayel to rest Thursday with supporters of the beleaguered pro-Western government vowing to turn the funeral into a massive show of public outrage.