Beirut car bomb kills anti-Syrian MP

By Yara Bayoumy

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed an anti-Syrian lawmaker and at least seven other people in Beirut on Wednesday, less than a week before Lebanon's parliament was due to elect a new president.

Antoine Ghanem of the Christian Phalange party died in a Christian district of the capital in an attack his allies blamed on Damascus. Syria condemned the killing.

Ghanem was the seventh anti-Syrian figure to be killed in Lebanon since the February 14, 2005, assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

"Every two or three months we are being targeted," Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, a leading member of the governing coalition who survived an assassination attempt in 2004, told Reuters.

At least 30 other people were wounded by the bomb in the commercial and residential area of Sin el-Fil.

Ghanem, 64, was a member of the anti-Syrian governing coalition which has been locked in a power struggle since November with factions backed by Damascus, including Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah.

"The killer is one, the criminal is one and the butcher is one," said Saad al-Hariri, son and political heir of the former prime minister, blaming Syria for killing Ghanem, his father and other allies. Damascus has consistently denied involvement.

Ghanem's death reduced the coalition to 68 seats in the 128-seat parliament -- only three more than the absolute majority of 65 seats it needs to win votes. The house had been expected to convene on September 25 to elect a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, which it must do by November 23.

"The Syrian regime is exerting its terrorist skills at the expense of the Lebanese majority," said Hamadeh.

The United States and the U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the attack.

"The bombing that claimed these lives was another act in a campaign of terror by those who want to turn back the clock on Lebanon's hard won democratic gains," said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a statement released in Jerusalem.

Rice did not mention Syria by name but the United States blames Damascus for destabilizing its neighbor.

"DESTABILISATION"

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora requested technical assistance to investigate "this horrific assassination" in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Jean-Maurice Ripert, France's U.N. ambassador and the president of the 15-nation U.N. Security Council, told reporters: "The Security Council condemns this bombing, along with every attempt to destabilize Lebanon, especially during this crucial period."