Lebanon began to bid farewell to an assassinated young Christian politician today, and his anti-Syrian allies sought to turn an expected huge turnout at his funeral into a massive show of force against opponents led by the militant Shiite Muslim Hezbollah and their Syrian backers.

Lebanon's government has been thrown into deep crisis after the prime minister rejected the resignation of Cabinet ministers from Hezbollah and the allied Amal party.

PROTESTERS, angered by the Israeli air strike in Qana that killed up to 50 refugees, broke into the main UN building in Beirut yesterday, burning UN and American flags.