Lebanese presidential poll to go ahead despite MP's killing (Roundup)

Sep 20, 2007, 15:42 GMT

Beirut - The Lebanese government said on Thursday that the 'terrorist' assassination of pro-Syrian Member of Parliament Antoine Ghanem would only reinforce its demands that a parliamentary vote to choose a new president must go ahead on time.

'We do not fear terrorism and this will not break our will. It will only reinforce our determination to prevent the terrorists from succeeding,' Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said following a ministerial meeting chaired by Premier Fouad Seniora.

'This is a terrorist act similar to the terrorist acts against the lives of members of the majority,' Aridi told reporters, referring to other political assassinations years.

'It cannot be separated from the presidential election... or from attempts to plunge the country into chaos,' he said.

'But we are determined to hold the election on time,' Aridi added. Lebanon's presidential election is scheduled for September 25.

Ghanem and six others were killed in a bomb blast on Wednesday in a busy mainly Christian neighbourhood of Beirut.

He is the eighth member of Lebanon's anti-Syrian majority to be assassinated since the murder in 2005 of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri.

Syria, which has been widely blamed for Hariri's murder, has denied accusations by the Western-backed ruling majority of being behind Ghanem's murder.

Aridi said the ruling majority 'keeps its hand extended to everybody,' in an apparent reference to the country's opposition. 'We have to save Lebanon.'

Parliament is due to convene Tuesday for the first time in nearly a year amid deep differences between the pro-Syrian opposition and the Western-backed majority.

Meanwhile, the anti-Syrian coalition of March 14 called Thursday on its followers to gather for a mass demonstration on Friday to mourn the MP's death.

'All should be united and confront this Syrian-Iranian coup against our MPs,' said anti-Syrian MP and Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad.

The ruling majority in a statement urged the Arab League and the United Nations Security Council 'to adopt all the necessary measures to guarantee that the presidential election takes place on time in a bid to protect the Lebanese Republic.'

The majority also again accused Syria of 'physically eliminating the deputies to block government actions, prevent the presidential election, creating chaos and resuming its hegemony over Lebanon.'

It also called on opposition to attend Tuesday's parliament session and urged Berri to guarantee 'emergency security measures' to ensure the safety of the MPs.

Shiite parliament speaker Nabih Berri has said the date of September 25 still held for a parliamentary session to choose a successor to President Emile Lahoud.

'There is a big conspiracy against Lebanon which threatens the fate of its people,' Berri told the daily An Nahar.

Lahoud is due to step down on November 24. Government supporters view the vote as a chance to elect somebody who is not as staunchly pro-Syrian to the post.

Despite the latest assassination, the anti-Syrian group still commands a majority in parliament, with 68 seats to the opposition's 59.

The Syrian-backed militant Hezbollah group and its allies in the pro-Syrian opposition have vowed to block any rival candidate. They can boycott the vote by preventing the required two-thirds quorum of 85 votes.