Brigadier-General Francois al-Hajj was tipped to take over from army chief General Michel Suleiman, who is on course to become the next President. Suleiman was among those paying tribute to the Maronite Christian officer in Beirut. Hajj played a leading role in the battle against al Qaeda-inspired militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon earlier this year.
That has led to speculation that an Islamist group may have been behind yesterday's blast which killed two other people. But many in the anti-Syrian political bloc believe Damascus was linked to the attack, just like it was linked to the Fatah al-Islam terrorists of Nahr el Bared Palestinian refugee camp... The fugitive leader of Fatah al -Islam , Shaker al-Absi fled from the camp and is now in Syria with his wife. The Syrian leadership has denied it was involved in this or other political assassinations that have heightened tensions in the country.
Analysts say the latest killing could undermine the recent agreement by pro- and anti-Syrian camps to nominate Suleiman for the vacant presidency.
Kafa (R), the mother of slain Brigadier General Francois al-Hajj, mourns in a church in Beirut December 13, 2007.
Laudi Hajj, center, the wife of Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj who was killed in a car bombing on Wednesday, mourns surrounded by her daughters, Jessica, right, and Rasha, left, as they receive condolences in a church in Beirut, Lebanon Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007
The aunt of Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj, left, a top Maronite Catholic in the Lebanese military command who was killed in an explosion outside the municipality building in the town of Baabda, east of Beirut, holds his picture as she mourns at the family house in the southern village of Rmeish, Lebanon.
General Hajj will be buried tomorrow in his village of Rmeish
Tags: Absi, Fatah, hajj, Lebanon, Maronites, Mourning, Palestinians, Qaeda, Rmeish, Suleiman, Syria
