Three gunned down in Melbourne shootings

MELBOURNE — Two men were gunned down in a popular Melbourne bar area on Friday, shortly after the killing of a known crime figure sparked fears of a new gang war in the city's notorious underworld.The two were killed about six hours after Macchour Chaouk, bearded patriarch of a Lebanese crime family which is feuding with a rival clan, was shot at his heavily secured home.Police did not know whether the two incidents were linked. A suspect and a weapon were held after the second shooting, while the gunman who killed Chaouk was still at large."At this stage we've got nothing to link it," a police spokesman told AFP.Police earlier said they would investigate whether the Haddara family, which has been engaged in tit-for-tat attacks with the Chaouks, was involved in the first attack."That's a fairly obvious inference to draw at the early stages," detective senior sergeant Murray Fraser told reporters."At this stage there is no evidence that we can really rely on to take that matter any further, but we have to look at that as an avenue."The gunman emerged from a car in a side street and drove away after the shooting just before 11:00 am, which left Chaouk clinging to life before he died at the scene.A group of family and friends gathered outside the fortified home in western Melbourne with some emotional mourners abusing the large press pack.In 2005, one of Chaouk's five sons was shot dead during a police raid at the same building. Officers swooped on the house again last month, seizing guns and ammunition, after Sam Haddara, 18, was shot in the face in a drive-by shooting.The feud between the families follows the murder of Sam's cousin Mohamad Haddara in another drive-by shooting last year.Last year, Desmond "Tuppence" Moran was shot down as he ate breakfast at his favourite cafe, while imprisoned mobster Carl Williams was battered to death in April while serving a life sentence for ordering several hits.The incidents highlight Melbourne's seamy crime world which has inspired a hit TV series, "Underbelly", and

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