Lebanon seeks UN help

United Nations: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has asked the United Nations to help investigate the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday.

Siniora had told Annan that Lebanon wants Gemayel's murder added to the ongoing UN inquiry into the February 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri, Annan told the Security Council in a letter asking it to "take appropriate action."

The UN investigation is already looking into 14 other apparently politically motivated attacks in Lebanon since Hariri's killing.

Belgian Serge Brammertz, who heads the commission, has reported evidence that all 15 cases were linked in some ways.

The Security Council would have to approve expanding the UN inquiry to include Gemayel, an anti-Syrian Cabinet minister gunned down in his car on Tuesday near Beirut.

Gemayel was killed after a Cabinet vote to tentatively approve UN plans for a new international court to try suspects in the Hariri murder and the 14 related cases.

Following the murder, the Security Council pushed ahead on Tuesday with UN approval of the plan, which now requires formal approval from the Lebanese government.

Several prominent anti-Syrian leaders have blamed Syria for Gemayel's murder and warned that more assassinations could be in the works. Damascus has denied any role in the Gemayel and Hariri assassinations.