BEIRUT, Lebanon  - Lebanon's political crisis deepened on Thursday when anti-Syrian ministers stormed out of a cabinet session after a heated row with President Emile Lahoud, a close ally of Damascus.

Verbal exchanges erupted when Lahoud tried to silence the ministers as they protested in front of reporters against Lahoud's criticism of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, a member of the anti-Syrian coalition that dominates parliament and cabinet.

Siniora had clashed with Lahoud at this week's Arab summit over the phrasing of part of the summit communique supporting Lebanon's resistance, a reference to the anti-Israeli Hizbollah guerrilla group that is under United Nations pressure to disarm.

During and after the summit, Lahoud said Siniora had spoken out of turn on the issue, without consulting him or the foreign minister.

A visibly angry Lahoud told reporters after the session ended abruptly: "This fictitious majority wants the head of the resistance (Hizbollah) ... it wants all of Lebanon, but they won't go anywhere with us."

Television footage showed Lahoud yelling at one minister: "You have no right to speak in front of cameramen. You are destroying the country. Are you here to shoot a movie?"

The anti-Syrian coalition has been pushing to oust Lahoud, whom they see as the last symbol of Syrian tutelage in the country. The president has vowed to serve his full term to 2007.

Lebanon's leaders have been holding "national dialogue" talks to end the country's worst political crisis in 16 years but they have so far failed to agree on the fate of Lahoud and the disarming of Hizbollah.

The group, which was vital in ending Israel's occupation of south Lebanon, has vowed to keep its arms even if Israel withdraws from the occupied Shebaa Farms, a border area the U.N. says is Syrian unless Beirut and Damascus amend their border.

Hizbollah says the territory is Lebanese.

Acting Interior Minister Ahmad Fattfat accused Lahoud of threatening him and reported the incident to the U.N. commission investigating last year's killing of ex-Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, said Future television, owned by the Hariri family.

Lahoud told reporters Fattfat had insulted him.

Many in Lebanon believe the extension of Lahoud's term in 2004 under pressure from Syria sparked a head-on collision between Damascus and Hariri that led to the ex-premier's death. His killing triggered mass protests in Beirut that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after 29 years.

The ongoing U.N. inquiry has already implicated senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies, including four generals loyal to Lahoud, in the murder. They all deny any role.

Anti-Syrian ministers also expressed their solidarity with Siniora after rare public criticism on Thursday by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, also a close ally of Damascus, for his statements in Khartoum.

Siniora toned down the ministers' position. "We all must act in a wise way for the country's sake," he said. (Reuters)