By Alia Ibrahim and Nora Boustany
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 20, 2007; A14
BEIRUT, Sept. 19 -- An anti-Syrian lawmaker and at least six other people were killed by a car bomb in a busy Beirut neighborhood Wednesday, only six days before parliament is to convene to begin electing a new president.
Antoine Ghanem, 64, a member of the Christian Phalange party, was the eighth anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in the past three years. Fifty-six people were injured in the blast, police said, which shook a Christian neighborhood during the evening rush hour.
Members of Lebanon's governing coalition blamed the killing on Syria, which denied responsibility.
"This is a clear message to silence the voices of freedom and the revolution of independence, but the Lebanese people will not back off, and they will have a new president elected by parliament members no matter how big the conspiracy gets," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said in a statement.
Lebanon's government has been all but paralyzed by a months-long standoff between its U.S.-backed government and opposition forces including the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which enjoys Syrian and Iranian support. Many Lebanese are on edge in anticipation of further conflict during the run-up to the presidential contest.
Ghanem's death brought the number of seats held by the anti-Syrian governing coalition down to 68 in a unicameral legislature of 128. The president, traditionally a Christian Maronite under Lebanon's power-sharing formula, is elected by an absolute majority of members of parliament, but a debate is underway over what constitutes the necessary quorum.
The assassination revived fears in Lebanon about more killings in coming weeks that would further erode the coalition's slim majority. "There's going to be more blood," said Wael Abou Faour, a member of parliament.
Syria's state-run Syrian Arab News Agency quoted an unnamed Syrian official as saying the attack was aimed at undermining Syrian efforts for national cohesion in Lebanon. Syria and its allies have insisted on a consensus candidate.
While few here expected an agreement over a presidential candidate to be reached before next week's session, many were confident that one would be attained before a Nov. 24 deadline.
Three members of parliament sympathetic to Siniora's government have already declared their candidacy, while Christian leader Michel Aoun, a former army commander and newly elected legislator, has made no secret of his presidential ambitions. Aoun has allied himself with Hezbollah against Siniora's coalition.
"This is how Lebanese politics work. At the last quarter-hour, everybody realizes that the bargaining time is up, and they would put all the papers on the table and agree on a compromise that would save the country. The alternative is disastrous, and everybody knows, if the temple falls, no one is going to survive," former president Amin Gemayel said in a interview Tuesday. Gemayel's son Pierre was a member of parliament when he was assassinated late last year.
After Syrian troops left Lebanon in 2005 following the killing of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, elections that year won his supporters a clear majority and deprived Syria of its role as the main power broker in Lebanon.
House Speaker Nabih Berri, a Shiite who is allied with Syria and Iran, has said parliament will convene on Sept. 25. Ghanem had returned from refuge abroad this week for that session.
"Antoine had left mostly for security reasons. He wanted to come back to participate in the presidential election session. Like everybody else, he was feeling threatened and he was taking security measures," said Karim Pakradouni, head of the Phalange party.
At the scene of the bombing, at least 10 cars were burning Wednesday evening, with shattered glass everywhere, and houses, offices and shops were seriously damaged.
"It was huge. I heard the tremendous noise, I rushed to the balcony and all I could see was bodies lying everywhere," said resident Philippe Kishishian.
The Maronite Church had called on legislators to attend the Sept. 25 session.
"This assassination today is, above all, an answer to the church's announcement. It is telling Christian members of the opposition, 'Attend the session, and we will kill you,' " Pakradouni said.
Boustany reported from Washington.
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