Beirut in mourning and fear of chaos prevails after Ghanem killing

Sep 20, 2007, 10:31 GMT

Beirut- Lebanon observed a general strike Thursday to mourn the assassination of anti-Syrian Member of Parliament Antoine Ghanem, who was killed in a bomb blast with six other people.

Shops, schools and public offices were closed, while people were confined to their homes to monitor the situation.

'We are all in shock, we were hoping for better days, but after the bomb blast on Wednesday we are back to the cycle of violence,' said Marie Akiki, a Christian living in Sin el-Fil where the blast took place on Wednesday.

The streets of Sin el-Fil, the quarter in which the car bomb was detonated, were littered with broken glass, fallen plaster from the facades of the buildings, and the burnt-out car wrecks.

'As if this area was struck by a hurricane,' said Jean abi Khalil, a shopowner in the area.

'We will remain to live in fear in this country ... the criminals who are carrying this want to destroy Lebanon, esepcially the Christian areas,' he said.

Ghanem, who belongs to the parliamentary bloc of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, is the eighth anti-Syrian official to be killed since the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri, in 2005, which Syria was widely blamed for.

'A message in blood for the majority' read the title of An-Nahar, the country's leading daily.

Lebanese Premier, Fouad Seniora has called on the United Nations to take charge of investigations - as already happened in the case of the killing of his predecessor, Rafik Hariri - and to cast light on the event.

Lebanese police numbered the injured at over 56 and the death toll includes two body guards of the Christian MP.

According to a police officer at the site, the bomb was planted inside a white mercedes with a false license plate, which was parked at the side of the road and was detonated by remote control from a distance.

The assassination of Ghanem could derail a key presidential poll, observers say.

MP Antoine Ghanem was killed along with six others in a massive car bombing on Wednesday in a busy mainly Christian neighbourhood of Beirut, the latest in a spate of attacks against prominent anti- Syrian figures.

World powers condemned the attack as a blatant bid to destabilise Lebanon ahead of the parliamentary session on September 25 to start voting for a new president for the country.

'I strongly condemn today's horrific assassination of Lebanese member of parliament Antoine Ghanem,' said US President George W Bush, who cited 'a tragic pattern' of attacks against champions of 'an independent and democratic Lebanon.'

Syria, who was widely accused by the anti-Syrian majority of being behind Ghanem's assassination has denied any involvement, saying the bombing was a 'criminal act' aimed at undermining efforts at a rapprochement with Lebanon.

Ghanem, 64, a lawyer, had been an MP since 2000. He belonged to the Christian Phalange party of former president Amin Gemayal, whose son, industry minister Pierre, was killed last November.

The party said Ghanem's funeral would be held on Friday and called for a general strike on Thursday. The education ministry said late Wednesday that all schools and unversities would stay shut both on Thursday and Friday.

Fearing for his life, Ghanem had left the country two months ago, following the assassination in June of another anti-Syrian MP, and only returned to Lebanon on Sunday.

Ghanem's death has reduced the majority in parliament to 68 members out of the now 127-member house, with numbers set to play a key role in the presidential vote to replace the current pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud.

Lebanon's political crisis intensified after pro-Syrian opposition forces, led by the Shiite movement Hezbollah, withdrew six ministers from Seniora's Western-backed cabinet in November.

Analysts say failure by the political foes to reach a consensus on a presidential candidate could spark a power vacuum or even lead to the naming of two rival governments as happened in the 1980s.

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri has called for parliament to convene on Tuesday for the election, but confusion still reigns over whether the vote will actually take place on that date.

An election can be held right up until the final deadline of November 24.

The anti-Syrian majority, also known as the March 14 coalition, insists that the president be selected by majority vote if there is a no consensus candidate. The opposition has called for the selection to be by two-thirds majority.

Lahoud, whose term ends November 24, has threatened to hand over power to army chief Michel Suleiman if the political factions fail to reach an agreement in accordance with the constitution.