Lebanon ex-president: Syria trying to topple gov't

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A former president of Lebanon accused Syria of plotting a coup d'etat against his country's democratically elected government. Amin Gemayel, whose son Pierre, the country's industry minister, was assassinated in November, said he does not know who was responsible for the killing. But in an interview broadcast on CNN Sunday, he said he believed Syria was behind recent Hizbullah-led demonstrations aimed at toppling the government of Prime Minster Fuad Saniora. Syria, he said, wants to prevent the government from endorsing an international tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.