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.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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