General's killing raises tension in Lebanon

Lebanon:The assassination of a senior Lebanese army general yesterday exacerbated tensions in a country already on edge due to parliament's failure to elect a president since Emile Lahoud left office late last month.

Gen François al-Hajj, head of operations, and his bodyguard were targeted by a car bomb in the Beirut suburb of Baabda not far from army headquarters and the presidential palace. Gen al-Hajj was favoured for the post of army chief if the incumbent, Gen Michel Suleiman, becomes president.

Gen al-Hajj was the eighth public figure and the first from the army to be murdered since 2005 when former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri was slain by a car bomb, precipitating the country into a prolonged political crisis.

Telecommunications minister Marwan Hamadeh, blamed Damascus and its ally Tehran for the killing of Gen al-Hajj, arguing that the military is the only institution in the country which can serve as a counter-weight to the armed wing of Hizbullah and other militias. An unidentified Syrian official condemned the assassination and accused "Israel and its agents in Lebanon" of responsibility, claiming that only they benefit from this event.

Hizbullah, which has good relations with the army, denounced the killing and praised the military for maintaining security. France and the European Union also condemned the attack.

Butros Harb, a deputy with the ruling bloc, linked it to the recent military campaign to clear al-Qaeda affiliated Fatah al-Islam fighters from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

About 400 people were killed and 40,000 made homeless during several months of clashes.

Saad Hariri, son of the slain former premier and head of the parliamentary majority, observed that the attack came at a time when Lebanon's enemies are trying to exploit for their own purposes the vacuum in the presidency.

The bombing coincided with a reversion to hardline positions by the governing bloc and the Hizbullah-led opposition which, last week agreed to support Gen Suleiman as a consensus candidate.

However, as parliament prepared to meet, sharp disagreements flared over power-sharing arrangements in a new government and how to amend the constitution to permit Gen Suleiman to take elective office without waiting two years after resigning from public employment.

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner - who along with officials from the Arab League, Saudi Arabia and the UN - has been trying to mediate an end to the crisis over the presidency, said the only response to the killing of the general should be to elect without delay a new president and "ensure [ the country's] security, liberty and sovereignty" by ruling normally.

However, the current cabinet has been unable to govern effectively since the opposition pulled out its ministers a year ago. Unless the Lebanese politicians take Mr Kouchner's advice, the murder of Gen al-Hajj could increase instability.