Syria accused of Hariri attack as Lebanon mourns

LEBANON mourned assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri yesterday as opposition leaders bluntly implicated Syria in an attack that Lebanese authorities said might have been a suicide bombing.

Schools, banks and shops were closed and the streets of the capital were virtually empty as Lebanon started three days of mourning.

Soldiers were deployed at some intersections, the armed forces were put on full alert and troops' leave was cancelled. The Sunni Muslim billionaire's death in a car bomb blast on Monday has spotlighted Lebanon's troubled ties with its powerful neighbour and revived memories of the 1975-90 civil war.

"This (Lebanese) regime is backed by the Syrians. This is the regime of terrorists and terrorism that was able yesterday to wipe out Rafik al-Hariri," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said after presenting his condolences to Mr Hariri's family in Beirut.

"I charge the Lebanese- Syrian police regime with the responsibility for Hariri's death," he said.

Exiled former general Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian and long-time foe of Syria, said Damascus was indirectly, if not directly, responsible for the killing.

"There are many Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services working in Beirut and they control everything in the country. I don't think that if they were taking care of Hariri he would be attacked so easily," Mr Aoun said. .

Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam was among those who filed into Mr Hariri's Beirut home to pay condolences.

"This crime targeted the Lebanese dream, Lebanese security and Lebanese peace," said Mr Khaddam, a friend of Mr Hariri.

Mosque minarets across Beirut blared out readings from the Koran. Streets were deserted as schools, shops and offices shut for three days of official mourning. The Lebanese army went on alert ahead of Mr Hariri's funeral, planned for today.

Mr Hariri, 60, who masterminded postwar reconstruction, was killed with 14 others when a carbomb ripped through his motorcade in Beirut's seafront luxury hotel district.

About 135 people were wounded in the biggest explosion since the war. Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh said a suicide car bomber might have carried out the attack, which gouged a crater in the middle of the road as Mr Hariri's convoy drove by.

"It could have been that someone was driving the car and it might have a been a suicide (attacker) who blew himself up," he told a news conference, citing initial investigations.

A previously unknown Islamist group said on Monday it had carried out a suicide attack against Mr Hariri, who also holds Saudi citizenship.

Hours later Lebanese security forces said they had raided the Beirut home of a man they identified as a Palestinian who had read the videotaped claim of responsibility. A security source said Ahmed Tayseer Abu Adas was not in the house. Mr Hariri resigned as prime minister in October after falling out with Syria over its role in extending the term of his political rival, President Emile Lahoud.

He then joined opposition leaders in calling for Syria to withdraw its 14,000 troops and stop interfering in Lebanese affairs, as demanded by a UN Security Council resolution.

Political tension had already been building up in Lebanon as campaigning got under way for parliamentary elections in May which were widely seen as a test of Syria's influence. Mr Franjieh said Mr Hariri's death would not derail the poll, saying: "Certainly, the elections will take place on schedule."

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Mr Hariri's southern hometown Sidon, shouting slogans blaming Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his death, witnesses said. Similar protests took place in Beirut on a smaller scale. Syrian state media said Syria had embraced Mr Hariri "as one of its own sons" and condemned his killing.

"Matters should be put on the right track. The real target of the assassination of Hariri is Lebanon and its national unity and civil peace," al-Thawra newspaper said. The US, which has tightened pressure on Syria in recent months, said it would consult UN Security Council members about punitive measures. Since it helped broker the end of the war, Syria has maintained a pervasive grip on Lebanon through its intelligence services, political allies and economic interests.

Lebanese papers voiced fears that the killing could destabilise the country and open the door to international intervention.

"The pressing concern of the moment is how to prevent Lebanon from tottering over the brink of the abyss," said the English-language Daily Star.