Arguments over who silenced Tueni

By Kim Ghattas
BBC News, Beirut

The Tuenis' tragedy comes at a sensitive time for Lebanon

Gibran Tueni's friends and supporters seem to have no doubt that it was Damascus that silenced him.

He was a vocal critic of Damascus and his newspaper has long been a forum for Syrian dissidents unable to publish in their own country.

Elected to parliament for the first time in June, Mr Tueni wrote a weekly column in which he regularly criticised Syria's role in Lebanon.

But Syria said the timing of the murder was meant to damage its own reputation.

Syrian officials have pointed out that their country does not stand to benefit from this murder, which has instead increased the pressure on the leadership in Damascus.

The Syrian state-controlled Tishrin newspaper said: "Why don't some Lebanese focus on a serious search for the killers, criminals and terrorists who are wreaking havoc in Lebanon and moving freely to commit crimes, instead of searching for any incident to take revenge against Syria and implicate it in events and crimes that do not serve its national and pan-Arab interests?"

'In the dock'

But Syria's critics in Beirut say the Damascus regime has nothing to lose anymore.

"The Syrian regime is already in the dock, one more murder it commits isn't going to make things worse or better for them," said Elie, one of the mourners at the funeral, when asked why the Syrians would do something they knew they would automatically get the blame for.

Analysts say that is precisely why Damascus continues to carry out attacks in Lebanon.

"Because Syria is such an obvious suspect, people will start wondering whether they shouldn't look elsewhere for the culprit," said one analyst.

But considering the country's violent past and the huge diversity of religious and political groups, some Lebanese don't discount the possibility that a third party could be taking advantage of the situation to settle scores, knowing that suspicions will be directed at Damascus.

The Lebanese cabinet has now requested a broad UN inquiry into the string of assassinations and bomb attacks that have the shaken the country since last year, a sign that the local authorities' own investigation is not making progress.

The Lebanese are now hoping that somebody will be brought to justice before the killers strike again.