Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said today he had been asked by the president to stay in his post as fear and anger over the assassination of a senior intelligence chief opposed to the Syrian leadership gripped the country.
Mr Mikati told a news conference in the presidential palace that he had offered his resignation to President Michel Suleiman to make way for a government of national unity, but had been asked to remain in office for the time being.
As he spoke, gunmen and demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres in Beirut and other cities to protest against the killing of Brigadier-General Wissam al-Hassan in a car bomb explosion in the centre of the capital yesterday afternoon.
Lebanese politicians have accused Syrian President Bashar-al Assad of being behind the attack, deepening fears that Syria's sectarian-tinged civil war is spreading to its neighbour.
The opposition March 14 bloc had called for the government, which includes ministers from the Shia militant group Hezbollah, which is close to Dr Assad, to step down.
"Today, I am saying more and more that there should be a national consensus government," Mr Mikati said. "The cabinet will eventually resign, but at the moment we must take a national stance, and I call on the Lebanese to unite together."
Mr Hassan led an investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.
A Sunni Muslim who was close to Hariri, also helped uncover a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of a pro-Assad former Lebanese minister, in a setback for Damascus and its Lebanese allies including Hezbollah.
The bombing was the most serious to hit the capital since Mr Hariri's 2005 assassination and prompted Sunni Muslims to take to streets across the country, burning tyres and blocking roads in a show of sectarian anger.
Mr Hariri's son, Saad al-Hariri, accused Dr Assad of being behind the bombing, while Lebanon's opposition March 14th bloc called on prime minister Najib Mikati's government, which includes ministers from Hezbollah, to resign over the bombing.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton condemned the "acts of terrorism" and called the murder of Mr Hassan "a dangerous sign that there are those who continue to seek to undermine Lebanon's stability."
"Lebanon must close the chapter of its past and bring an end to impunity for political assassinations and other politically motivated violence," Ms Clinton said in a written statement.
The head of Lebanon's internal security forces, Major General Ashraf Rifi, described Mr Hassan's death as a "huge blow" and warned that further attacks were likely.
"We've lost a central security pillar," he told Future Television. "Without a doubt, we have more sacrifices coming in the future. We know that, but we will not be broken." Rubble and the twisted, burning wreckage of several cars filled the central Beirut street where the bomb exploded, ripping the facades and balconies off buildings.
Firefighters scrambled through the debris and rescue workers carried off the bloodied victims on stretchers. In the confusion following the blast, it took several hours before any official word emerged that Mr Hassan had been targeted.
Speaking shortly after the bombing, Lebanon's foreign minister Adnan Mansour told Reuters that his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi had condemned the bombing and planned to visit Beirut today.
Iran is a powerful supporter of both Hezbollah and Syria's Dr Assad, who is fighting a 19-month-old uprising waged by mainly Sunni Muslim insurgents. More than 30,000 people have been killed since the uprising erupted in March last year.
Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those supporting Assad and those backing the rebels, leaving it vulnerable to spillover from the Syrian bloodshed.
Two Syrian officers, including General Ali Mamlouk, the head of Syria's national security bureau, were indicted along with Lebanon's former information minister Michel Samaha in August over a plot allegedly aimed at stoking violence in Lebanon.
The indictments were an unprecedented move against the more powerful neighbour - a major player in Lebanon's affairs for decades.
As well as being the brains behind the Samaha investigation, Mr Hassan led the investigation into Rafik Hariri's murder seven years ago and uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah - a charge they both deny.
An international tribunal accused several Hezbollah members of involvement in the murder.
Mr Hassan, who returned to Lebanon on Thursday night from Germany, had helped uncover many assassination attempts against anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon. He himself escaped several attempts on his life.
The bombing, which was reminiscent of scenes from Lebanon's own 1975-1990 civil war, ripped through a street near Sassine Square in Ashrafiyeh, a mostly Christian area.
Mr Mikati said his government was trying to find out who carried out the attack and those responsible would be punished.
Reuters