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Crowds gather at Lebanon funeral |
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Written by BBC
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Thousands of Lebanese have turned out for the funeral in Beirut of anti-Syrian MP, Antoine Ghanim, who was assassinated on Wednesday.
The Lebanese government has vowed to press ahead with presidential elections to choose a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud next week.
The assassination of a number of anti-Syrian figures has reduced the pro-Western majority in parliament.
Syria has been blamed for the killings, but denies any involvement.
The funeral procession and service was also held for two bodyguards, Nouhad Ghoreib and Tony Daou, who were killed alongside Mr Ghanim.
Wife's grief
Mr Ghanim's coffin, draped with the flags of Lebanon and his Phalange political party, was carried from the hospital where it had lain to the Furn el-Shebak district, in mainly Christian east Beirut, where he had his constituency.
As the body was moved, his grieving widow Lola cried out "Ya habibi [my love], Ya habibi."
Then as his coffin and those of the bodyguards were borne through the streets, the gathered crowds of people, many carrying flags, applauded.
The three were taken to Sacre Coeur church for the funeral service in nearby Badara, where friends and relatives were joined by senior Lebanese politicians.
Banks, schools and government offices have been closed in Lebanon, as the country mourns Mr Ghanim, of the Christian Maronite Phalange party.
The education ministry said schools and universities would remain closed again on Friday.
Mr Ghanim died with at least six others in a car bombing in the mainly Christian Sin al-Fil district.
Lebanon's pro-Western government says it is determined to hold a presidential election, despite the assassination.
But the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the situation is very uncertain and the government may find procedural difficulties in convening the required number of MPs for a presidential vote.
MPs are due to choose a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud next week.
The killings of several anti-Syrian figures have left the government with only a slim majority, 68 out of 127 MPs.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the killers of Mr Ghanim would not be allowed to succeed in their aims.
Mr Siniora said on Thursday: "The hand of terror will not win and will not succeed in subduing us and silencing us.
"The Lebanese will not retreat and will have a new president elected by lawmakers, no matter how big the conspiracy was."
He has called for a UN investigation into the assassination of Mr Ghanim, who had returned to Beirut just a few days before his death to take part in next week's vote.
Syria accused
The country has been mired in an ongoing political crisis, with a deadlock between pro- and anti-Syrian factions in parliament.
From 1975 until the early 1990s, Lebanon suffered a bloody civil war in which regional powers - particularly Israel, Syria and the Palestine Liberation Organisation - used the country as a battlefield for their own conflicts.
Syrian troops moved in shortly after the war started and though they helped end the civil war in 1990 and maintain peace, they stayed on long after the conflict ended and Damascus effectively became the political master of its tiny neighbour.
Although Syria withdrew its troops in 2005, ending a 29-year military presence, it still exerts considerable political clout in Lebanon.
The term of the current president, pro-Syrian Mr Lahoud, was extended to 2007, worsening pro- and anti-Syrian divisions, which were exacerbated in February 2005 by the killing in a bomb attack of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Syria has denied any involvement in the killing of Mr Hariri and in this latest attack, which it described as a "criminal act" that undermined hopes for Lebanese national reconciliation.
But some Lebanese politicians were quick to blame Damascus for the blast.
Saad Hariri, son of Rafik Hariri, said responsibility lay with the "cowardly regime" of Syria.
Even pro-Syrian Mr Lahoud said it was no coincidence that someone was killed whenever there were positive developments in Lebanon.
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