TRIPOLI: The village of Ehden marked with a mass on Sunday the 32-year anniversary of the assassination of politician Toni Franjieh, along with members of his family and supporters.

Toni Franjieh is the father of current Marada leader and Zghorta MP Sleiman Franjieh, who survived the massacre.

Militiamen from the right-wing Phalange Party, headed by current Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, murdered Franjieh, his wife Vera and their 4-year-old daughter Jihane, as well as dozens of Marada supporters in the northern mountain village of Ehden in 1978.

Sunday’s remembrance mass was held at the gardens of former president Sleiman Franjieh’s residence in Ehden and was attended by scores of political, religious and social figures.

In his sermon, Bishop Stephen Franjieh said MP Franjieh will follow on the steps of his father and grandfather.

Following the May municipal elections and the killing of two Marada Movement supporters by an LF partisan in the northern Koura village of Dahr al-Ain, tensions between the two groups have flared anew.

Franjieh described Geagea as a criminal, stressing that reconciliation with Geagea was no longer possible and described him as an “instigator of strife.”

On Sunday, the LF issued a statement accusing Toni Franjieh of “killing and attacking” Phalange Party officials and their families.