BEIRUT, Oct 2 (AFP) - The attempted assassination of a Lebanese politician opposed to Syria's domination of his country turned the spotlight on Saturday on UN Security Council for an end to foreign meddling in Beirut's affairs.
On Friday, a car bomb wounded Druze deputy Marwan Hamadeh, one of four ministers to resign in early September to protest at the Lebanese parliament's three-year extension of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.
The same day, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reported that Damascus had not conformed with Security Council Resolution 1559 by stopping its interference in Lebanon and pulling out its troops.
Influential Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who also voted against extending the president's term, called on Saturday for "correction of the error of extension (of the president's term) in order to confront internationalisation" -- a reference to the UN resolution.
Jumblatt, speaking at the funeral of Hamadeh's bodyguard killed in the blast, said: "Today we are engaged in a battle to preserve national unity ... a long-term, peaceful combat in favour of freedom, democracy and defence of the constitution."
The MP, one of 29 deputies to vote against the constitutional amendment, called for "correct and frank relations with Syria", the major powerbroker in Lebanon.
While condemnation of the attack against Hamadeh was unanimous, pro-Syrians and opponents diverged on who ordered it; the first pointing to Israel, the others -- without naming it -- to Syria.
"The main beneficiary is Israel in this attack carried out in the heart of Beirut against an opponent (of the amendment) in order to provoke tension and cause dissension," said the head of the Hezbollah Shiite movement, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
Members of the Christian anti-Syrian opposition meanwhile commented in a statement that the "crime comes within the framework of a long series of threats and repressive practices directed against the opposition" by the authorities.
Speaking from his exile in Paris, Lebanon's anti-Syrian general Michel Aoun was quoted on Saturday as saying: "The Syrian and Lebanese (security) services are suspected ... I hope that the authorities, in the aim of covering up the crime, will not accuse Israel."
Meanwhile, pro-Syrian backers linked the "destabilising" attack with Resolution 1559, adopted at the initiative of the United States and France, which staunchly opposed extending Lahoud's term in office.
"The attack was part of pressures currently exercised on Syria after 1559 was adopted," said Health Minister Suleiman Franjieh.
Lebanon has not officially reacted to Annan's report which said Syria had not complied with the resolution and that both Beirut and Damascus had said Syrian soldiers were in Lebanon at Beirut's request.
But according to Najib Friji, a UN official in Beirut: "The Syrian authorities have told UN special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen that they consider the Kofi Annan report honest and balanced."
Friji is director of the UN information centre in Beirut.
Annan said in his report: "The government of Syria has informed me that it cannot provide me with numbers and timetables for any future withdrawal.
"The requirements on the various parties set out in Resolution 1559 have not been met," he said.
Annan said both Beirut and Damascus had indicated that Syrian troops were on the ground "at the invitation of Lebanon and that their presence is therefore by mutual agreement."
Lebanon's former ambassador to the United States, Simon Karam, told AFP: "The report, which is fair and balanced, reviews the tragic history of Lebanon and lays out the main lines for a better future, as it gives a real chance for a normalisation of relations between Lebanon and Syria which have everything to gain by applying 1559."