Who Killed Pierre Gemayyel (not that the matter is keeping me awake)? There are several questions about the assassinations of Pierre Gemayyel. If you review the list of the victims of the assassinations and assassination attempts over the last two years, you clearly come up with a list of people who--no matter what you thought or think of them--were most effective in actions and propaganda against the Syrian regime and its allies in Lebanon. Until the assassination attempt on Ilyas Murr, and now this one, all were clearly people who did a service to the anti-Syrian cause in Lebanon. Gemayyel was not a prominent figure; far from it. And the timing--if Syria or its were allies were behind it--was most beneficial for March 14th movement, and most inopportune for the opposition. The only thing that was significant about Gemayyel's background was his famous speech at a rally last year in which he talked about "quality versus quantity." That really angered many Muslims and others and that was similar to a speech that Jubran Tuwayni made in which he compared Shi`ites to sheep. But if these assassinations were perpetrated by people who wanted to exact revenge for perceived insulted and offenses, the execution of this assassination reveals a high degree of professionalism and effectiveness. So the question remains whether this was one of the same series of assassinations or a different one. The other thing that raised questions in my head was the text of the statement by a group that claimed responsibility for the assassination. The statement was drafted in the most awkward phraseology: it was written by somebody who was making an effort to sound--he/she was not sure--either an Islamic fundamentalist or an Arab nationalist or even a Syrian nationalist. The statement did not get much attention, but I read it more than once and it sounded more odd with each new reading. And then my friend Amer added another twist: he wondered whether the assassination had anything to do with Iraqi developments. Only two or three weeks ago, Amin Gemayyel was criticized for paying a surprise visit to Kurdistan where he met with Mas`ud Barazani. AANS reported that at the time.