Christian MP Antoine Ghanem was killed along with four other people in a massive car bombing on Wednesday in a Beirut surburb, the latest in a spate of attacks against prominent anti-Syrian figures blamed on Damascus.
The assassination - condemned around the world - was seen as a clear message ahead of a Parliament session to elect a president amid almost total political deadlock between the Western-backed majority and the pro-Damascus opposition.
But Parliament speaker and leading Opposition figure Nabih Berri insisted that the session to choose a successor to President Emile Lahoud would go ahead as planned.
"I am going to the parliament on Tuesday because we will not let the criminals achieve their goal," Mr Berri told the An-Nahar newspaper.
Security was boosted in Beirut as police sifted through wreckage of the powerful blast, which left a number of blackened and mangled cars, and interviewed people in the Christian neighbourhood where the blast took place.
Police said five people were killed and 71 wounded.
Two of the MP's bodyguards were among the dead, Mr Ghanem's daughter told AFP.
"The bomb consisted of more than 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of TNT packed in a Mercedes car parked nearby with fake licence plates," a police spokesman said.
"It was detonated via remote control."
Official day of mourning
Mr Ghanem, 64, a lawyer, had been an MP since 2000.
He belonged to the Christian Phalange party of former president Amin Gemayal, whose own son, industry minister Pierre, was killed last November.
A funeral procession on Friday for Mr Ghanem and the two guards killed is to head for the Furn el-Shebak district where he had his constituency and then on to the Sacre Coeur church in nearby Badara.
The Government declared a day of official mourning to coincide with the funeral, with flags on official buildings to be flown at half-mast.
All schools and universities were ordered closed both on Thursday and Friday.
"We do not fear terrorism and this will not break our will," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said.
"It will only reinforce our determination to prevent the terrorists from succeeding.
US President George W Bush condemned what he called "a tragic pattern" of attacks against champions of "an independent and democratic Lebanon" while UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned it as a "brutal assassination".
Turkey's Foreign Ministry warned the killing was aimed at "disrupting the security situation in Lebanon and therefore in the region".
But Syria denied any involvement, saying the bombing was a "criminal act" aimed at undermining efforts at a rapprochement with Lebanon.
Hezbollah, the leading party in the opposition, said the assassination was "a blow to the country's security and stability as well as any attempt at reconciliation" and called for feuding political parties to show unity.
Investigation
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora urged the United Nations to investigate Mr Ghanem's killing as part of its probe into similar murders of anti-Syrian figures including former premier Rafiq Hariri who was assassinated in 2005.
Fearing for his life, Mr Ghanem had fled into exile following the assassination in June of another anti-Syrian MP, and only returned to Lebanon on Sunday.
He was the eighth member of the anti-Syrian majority to be assassinated since the February 2005 murder of five-time prime minister and billionaire tycoon Mr Hariri.
The authorities have prepared emergency accommodation for fearful MPs in a special high-security wing of a luxury Beirut hotel.
Mr Ghanem's death reduced the Government's support in Parliament to 68 out of the remaining 127 MPs, with numbers set to play a key role in the presidential vote.
Senior Phalangist official Joseph Abu Khalil said the attack was clearly aimed at cutting the number of pro-government MPs to derail the vote.
A candidate, who by convention comes from the Maronite Christian community, needs a two-thirds majority to be elected president from a first round of voting, while a simple majority is enough in any later round.
An election can be held right up until the final deadline of November 24, but if the president's seat is left vacant, his powers are automatically transferred to the Government.
Lebanon has been on edge since the February 2005 bombing that killed Mr Hariri, in an attack that was widely blamed on Syria and forced it to end three decades of military domination. © 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
