(22 Nov 2006)
1. President Bush walks up to podium at a mess hall on Hickam Air Force Base
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) US President George W. Bush
""Today we saw again the vicious face of those who oppose freedom. We strongly condemn the assassination today in Lebanon of Pierre Gemayel who was a minister in the government of Prime Minister Saniora. We support the Saniora government and its democracy, and we support the Lebanese people's desire to live in peace and we support their efforts to defend their democracy against attempts by Syria, Iran and allies to foment instability and violence in that important country. I call for a full investigation of the murder to identify those people and those forces behind the killing. We call on the international community to support Prime Minister Saniora's government. And one clear way to do so is for the United Nations Security Council to take all remaining steps needed to establish a special tribunal concerning the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri, and to assure that those behind that killing and others that followed are brought to justice. I strongly believe the United Nations Security Council ought to act today. For the sake of peace, the free world must reject those who undermine young democracies and murder in the name of their hateful ideology."
3. Cutaway of troops applauding, pan over to Bush walking away from podium
STORYLINE:
US President George W Bush denounced Tuesday's assassination of a Lebanese leader as "the vicious face of those who oppose freedom" and said that Syria and Iran were trying to undermine the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
Both Damascus and Tehran have denounced the assassination.
"We support the Saniora government and its democracy, and we support the Lebanese people's desire to live in peace," Bush said after having breakfast with US troops stationed in Hawaii.
"And we support their efforts to defend their democracy against attempts by Syria, Iran and allies to foment instability and violence in that important country", he said.
Pierre Gemayel, an anti-Syrian Cabinet minister and scion of Lebanon's most prominent Christian political family, was gunned on Tuesday in a suburb of Beirut, bringing the political tensions to a boil and threatening to plunge the country in sectarian strife.
The killing of the 34-year-old Gemayel sparked outrage among Christian supporters of Gemayel - whose father, former President Amin Gemayel, leads the Phalange Party - and sharply raises sectarian tensions in Lebanon.
Bush called for a full investigation to identify "those people and those forces" behind it.
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