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UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a letter from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora asking for UN assistance in the probe of the murder of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

The 15-member council moved quickly late Wednesday to approve the request shortly after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan informed the council that he had received a letter from Seniora on Tuesday requesting "technical assistance" from the United Nations.

"The government also requested that the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) be in touch with the relevant Lebanese authorities for that purpose," the UN chief saidin a letter addressed to the president of the council.

The commission, led by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, was also investigating the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

"We have decided to respond swiftly," Peru's UN Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales, the council's president for November, told reporters after the council endorsed the request.

In a letter to Annan, the council said it was "determined to support the government of Lebanon in its efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers, 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."

The council, in a presidential statement issued on Tuesday, condemned the murder of Gemayel and endorsed Annan's proposal for the establishment of an international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri murder.

Gemayel, who was also a Christian leader in Lebanon and a son of former President Amin Gemayel, was killed on Tuesday by a single gunshot in the head when his convoy was attacked on a street in Jedeide, about 15 km northeast of Beirut.

BEIJING, Nov. 23 -- Lebanon began three days of mourning Wednesday for an anti-Syrian cabinet minister whose assassination, blamed by his allies on Damascus, raised fears of a new spasm of factional violence. >>>

Lebanese PM heads security meeting on Gemayel's killing

BEIRUT, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora chaired here on Wednesday a meeting of the Lebanese Central Security Council to discuss developments regarding the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

Following the meeting, Lebanon's acting Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat told reporters that general attorney and heads of security bodies briefed Seniora with the latest developments on the Gemayel case.

Lebanese minister shot dead in Beirut

A Lebanese woman carries a picture of assassinated Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel in Bekfaya, northeast of Beirut, November 21, 2006. (AFP Photo)
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BEIRUT, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Industry Minister and Christian leader Pierre Gemayel was shot dead on a street in the suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, al-Jazeera TV channel quoted the Lebanese Interior Ministry as saying. >>>

World condemns assassination of Lebanese industry minister

BEIJING, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- The assassination of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, a supporter of the anti-Syrian parliament majority, drew condemnations from around the world on Tuesday. >>>