PARIS - On the second anniversary of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, French President Jacques Chirac urged the Lebanese people and political parties to unite to achieve Hariris aims for his people and to support efforts to bring Hariris killers to justice.

Chirac, a close friend of the Lebanese billionaire and former Prime Minister, told the weekly, French cabinet meeting that Hariri stood for "Lebanons fight for its sovereignty, independence and democracy" and he said these aims remained those of the Lebanese people more than ever today.

The French President also pointed out that the international community would resolutely stand by the Lebanese people in their efforts to achieve the aims set out by Hariri.

"It is through the unity of all political forces and all the communities that Lebanon will accomplish its renaissance. It is also by the work of justice and the refusal of impunity that an end will be put to the escalation in violence," Chirac said.

The French leader, who on Tuesday expressed "consternation and horror" at a double bus bombing in Lebanon, has been an ardent supporter of the push to set up an international tribunal for the number of high-profile assassinations in Lebanon over the past two years, among them Hariri, several deputies and prominent journalists.

The United Nations has currently undertaken an investigation of the circumstances of the killings and is taking evidence in a number of countries to determine who might be responsible.

Several reports by the UNs investigator, Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, have failed to clearly designate any guilty parties in the killings and have described varying levels off cooperation by a number of countries.

Syria, which some Lebanese have accused of a role in the assassinations, has begun cooperating with Brammertz after a difficult beginning.

Damascus denies any role whatsoever in the killings and has said it is willing to cooperate with the UN enquiry but Syria objects to the UN approved tribunal on the basis that there are no accused as yet and, thus, this move is premature. -Kuna