Lebanon was thrown into fresh political turmoil Tuesday as it mourned the killing of prominent anti-Syrian journalist and MP Gibran Tueni in an attack many blamed on former powerbroker Damascus.
The ruling anti-Syrian majority in parliament called for an emergency session of the assembly to debate the future of Damascus-backed President Emile Lahoud after blaming the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in its powerful neighbour.
"By assassinating Gibran Tueni, the Syrian regime... has renewed its war on Lebanon," said a statement from the coalition read by MP Boutros Harb.
Tueni, 48, the director of An-Nahar newspaper, was killed in a massive car bomb blast Monday just a day after his return from France where he had been spending time for fear of an attempt on his life.
Another three people, including his driver and a bodyguard, were killed in the attack, the latest deadly strike against anti-Damascus figures.
Political divisions were also exacerbated after cabinet ministers from Shiite groups loyal to Damascus announced a boycott of the government in protest at a decision to call for an international probe into the bombings and assassinations.
Tueni was instrumental in the campaign to end Syria's political and military domination of Lebanon and was being mourned as a "martyr" of the country's fragile regained independence.
He was killed just hours before a new UN report was issued into the February murder of former billionaire prime minister Rafiq Hariri, whose death triggered massive domestic and international pressure on Syria which eventually ended its near three-decade military presence in Lebanon in April.
The latest report by chief investigator Detlev Mehlis said there was fresh evidence further implicating senior Syrian officers in the Beirut bomb blast that killed Hariri and 20 other people.
Anti-Syrian politicians in the parliamentary majority group headed by Hariri's son Saad urged MPs to review the position of Lahoud, who has faced constant calls to resign since Hariri's death.
"We urge parliament to hold an emergency session to discuss the dangerous situation generated by the police state that prevails at the highest level, namely the head of state," a statement from the group said.
Lahoud's mandate was "renewed by force at Syria's request in violation of the constitution and this has paralysed the executive power and led to the crisis threatening Lebanon's independence and fate," it said.
His term in office was controversially extended by three years in September 2004 under pressure from Syria, which had dominated Lebanese affairs since the end of the civil war in 1990.
The coalition also urged the boycotting Shiite ministers from the Amal and Hezbollah movements to reconsider their decision for the sake of Lebanese unity.
Former president Amin Gemayel, a member of the coaliton, also called on the ministers not translate their action into a formal resignation from the cabinet.
"Any other attitude would be suicidal," he told AFP.
But pro-Hezbollah Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh had already put the decision into action by failing to show up at his office Tuesday and cancelling a meeting with a top UN official.
Thousands of mourners filed into St Nicholas Church in the Christian neighbourhood of Ashrafiyeh to offer their condolences to Tueni's father and his widow ahead of his funeral on Wednesday.
Schools and universities across Lebanon were closed and a call for a general strike to be observed Wednesday was issued by his comrades in the anti-Syrian coalition.
"The brutal and senseless killing of Tueni is an indication of the fragility of Lebanon. The present precarious situation demands cautious and careful intervention," the English-language Daily Star said.