A huge explosion rocked a Christian suburb east of Beirut today, killing at least four people and injuring dozens, it was reported.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud ordered the army to take over security powers today, saying the country is in a "state of emergency".

Balint Szlanko reports from Beirut on the army’s victory over Fatah el-Islam and the prospect of transforming cross-party support into unity.

A UN inquiry has identified people who may have been involved in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and is investigating new information about the buyers of a van used in the bombing, the chief investigator said.

Syria suggested it may not cooperate with a planned international tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri because Damascus was not consulted on the plan, according to a letter circulated at the United Nations.

The coffin of Pierre Gemayel was passed overhead through the crowd into the church, handed from mourner to mourner, while in the square nearby hundreds of thousands of supporters unleashed their anger, burning pictures of Syria’s president and his allies in Lebanon.

Lebanon plunged into fear and gloom today as mourners came to the mountain town of Bikfaya to pay thier last respects to a Christian politician, whose assassination threatened to push the country’s political crisis over the brink.

With Independence Day celebrations cancelled, Lebanon was engulfed in fear and gloom today as it prepared to bury Christian leader and Cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, whose assassination threatened to push a country in political crisis over the brink.

A Lebanese Cabinet minister allied with Hezbollah resigned today, making him the sixth to quit in recent days.

THE United Nations-backed ceasefire which began in Lebanon yesterday represents just a faltering step towards trying to eventually end this conflict, which has already lasted a month and claimed the lives of 1,100 Lebanese and 156 Israelis.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is expected in Beirut later today in the first visit by an Iranian official to war-hit Lebanon since fighting broke out between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah guerrillas.

OTHER developments yesterday in the Middle East crisis

Israel will not be able to disarm Hezbollah by broadening its military offensive and instead must stop shooting and start talking, President Emile Lahoud said today.

A coalition of Lebanese groups, angered by the recent assassination of a prominent anti-Syrian journalist, called today for the ousting of Lebanon’s pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.

THE brother-in-law of Syria’s president has been implicated in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, according to a UN inquiry.

Notorious anti-Syrian Christian warlord Samir Geagea was released today after 11 years in prison, his spokeswoman said, in what marked the latest reconciliatory step in civil war-scarred Lebanon in the wake of the recent collapse of Syrian military dominance.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will arrive in Beirut today for a surprise visit, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud appointed the anti-Syrian coalition’s candidate Fuad Saniora as prime minister today to head the first Cabinet in 30 years to be free of Syrian interference.

The son of Lebanon’s slain former prime minister, whose anti-Syrian slate swept to victory in the final round of Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, has reached out to his defeated opponents with promises that he would not “close the door on anyone".

THE anti-Syrian opposition captured control of Lebanon’s parliament yesterday, breaking Syria’s long domination of the country, according to unofficial results and the opposition leader, Saad Hariri.

THE firebrand former general Michel Aoun emerged yesterday as Lebanon’s main Christian political force after scoring a stunning win in parliamentary elections only weeks after returning from exile.

ANTI-SYRIAN rivals battled it out at the ballot boxes yesterday as voters crowded polling stations to vote in the most crucial round of Lebanon’s parliamentary elections.

A SON of the assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has launched his campaign to take his father's parliamentary seat.

An explosion rocked a shopping area and sparked a fire near a Christian radio station and a church in the port city of Jounieh, north of Beirut, killing at least one person.

Syrian special forces joined Lebanese troops today at a Lebanese air base near the Syrian border, and shouted “long live Bashar!” in homage to the Syrian leader, as they prepared for a farewell ceremony marking the end of Syria’s 29-year military involvement with its smaller neighbour.

Syria promised the UN yesterday that it will withdraw all troops from Lebanon before parliamentary elections, but did not mention a pullout of its intelligence operatives, as demanded by the Security Council.

A BOMBING in a Christian suburb of east Beirut overshadowed Easter celebrations yesterday and raised fresh fears of a slide back into Lebanon’s violent past.

A UN report by Deputy Garda Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri demanded a new international investigation after determining that Lebanon’s authorities bungled, if not outright manipulated, their probe of the killing.

A UN report into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has demanded a new international investigation after determining that Lebanon’s authorities bungled, if not outright manipulated, their probe of the killing.

A MILLION demonstrators chanting “Freedom, sovereignty, independence” crowded into Beirut’s main square yesterday, the biggest protest yet in the opposition’s duel of street rallies with supporters of the Syrian-backed government.

A million demonstrators chanting “Freedom, sovereignty, independence” crowded into Beirut’s main square today, the biggest protest yet in the opposition’s duel of street rallies with supporters of the Syrian backed government.

Hundreds of thousands of opposition demonstrators waved gathered in Beirut’s Martyrs Square today, throwing the biggest protest yet in the duel of street rallies with supporters of Syria and the Lebanese government.

Thousands of flag-waving Lebanese answered an opposition call for a massive street protest in Beirut today.

A senior Lebanese army officer has said 4,000 Syrian soldiers – more than a quarter of those serving in Lebanon just a week ago – are back in Syria, but he said a complete withdrawal is nearly a month away at the earliest.

SYRIA has withdrawn nearly a third of its troops from Lebanon, a senior officer said yesterday.

LEBANON President Emile Lahoud looks set to ask outgoing pro-Syrian prime minister Omar Karami to form a government, a step sure to anger the anti-Syrian opposition who pressured him to resign in the first place.

A top anti-Syria Lebanese opposition leader headed to Moscow today for talks on the scaling back of Syria’s military presence in his country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Black-clad activists from the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah took over a central square in Beirut today to set up for the first major pro-Syrian demonstration.

SYRIA, under world pressure to quit Lebanon, promised yesterday to shift its troops to eastern areas this month, but the presidents of the two countries failed to set a deadline for a full withdrawal.

The withdrawal of Syrian troops to Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley will be completed by the end of March, the presidents of the neighbouring Mideast nations agreed today.

The withdrawal of Syrian troops to Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley will be completed by the end of March, the presidents of both countries agreed today.

The presidents of Syria and Lebanon opened talks today on Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon, setting in motion the process of implementing Damascus’ decision to bring home its 14,000 troops from the neighbouring country.

Lebanese officials said Syrian troops will begin pulling back toward the Syrian border today, as the leader of the Hezbollah militant group called for a demonstration in Beirut to counter weeks of anti-Syrian protests.

President Bashar Assad, responding to weeks of intense pressure, announced today that Syria would move its troops to the Lebanese-Syrian border in a two-step pull-back that he said should satisfy international demands for a complete withdrawal.