Lebanese Industry Minister and Christian leader Pierre Gemayel was shot dead on a street in the suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, al-Jazeera TV channel quoted the Lebanese Interior Ministry as saying.

Saad Hariri, parliament's majority leader and son of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, broke off his televised press conference and confirmed the news, al-Jazeera said.

According to reports by Arabia TV, the minister was hit by a gunshot on his head when his convoy was attacked in Jedeide, about15 km northeast from Beirut.

Gemayel was rushed to hospital where he later died of his wounds, said the report.

The 34-year-old Gemayel was a Christian leader in Lebanon and son of former president Amin Gemayel. He was a supporter of the anti-Syrian parliament majority.

Gemayel's assassination is almost certain to deepen the political crisis in Lebanon, which started after the resignation of six pro-Syrian ministers, two from Hezbollah, hours after all-party round table talks collapsed.

The crisis took a sharp turn for the worse after the cabinet, without the Syrian-backed ministers, approved the UN draft document for creation of an international tribunal in the case of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's killing.

The opposition parties dismissed the cabinet's approval of the UN draft and called for the government's resignation.

While the anti-Syrian ruling parliamentary majority has accused Hezbollah and Amal, the main pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian Shiite groups, of doing Damascus's and Tehran's bidding and seeking to undermine the formation of the tribunal.

Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, also a prominent anti-Syria political figure, was killed in a suicide bombing in February last year, which led to rising anti-Syrian waves and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Editor: Donald