BEIRUT -- A solemn funeral procession was held on Friday for a slain ranking Druze figure in his hometown of Baisour in the Shouf mountains southeast of Beirut.

Sheikh Saleh Al-Aridi, a close aide to the Druze leader and politician, Talal Areslan, an influential Druze clan since hundreds of years in the Lebanese mountains, was killed in a bomb blast that tore apart his car in his hometown of Baisour two days ago.

Today's funeral in Baisour grouped the country's top Druze leaders; Areslan, Walid Jumblatt and Minister of Public Works Ghazi Al-Aridi, along with senior figures from the community and other sects and political trends of the country, as well as government officials.

Addressing the funeral, Jumblatt said the assassination of Al-Aridi constituted a harsh message against all internal conciliation efforts. "The crime proved anew that the Lebanese arena is open to diverse foreign intelligence networks." Jumblatt re-affirmed necessity of integrating Hezbollah into the government regular forces but indicated that this process should be carried out in phases.

Areslan, whose father was one of the leaders that played a major role in the independence of the country from France in the 1940s, concurred with Jumblatt that the killing of his close aide, who had mediated understanding among the warring local factions, targeted the current efforts to reconcile the various groups.

Jumblatt, whose family is traditionally at odds with Areslan's clan, has recently mended fences with Areslan, who played a role in averting a bloodbath between Jumblatt's followers and Hezbollah last May. Since then, Jumblatt, has softened his tone toward the opposition camp.

Several senior figures have been assassinated in Lebanon since February 14, 2005, when the ex-premier, Rafic Al-Hariri, was killed in a fiery bomb blast in Beirut. A close aide to Jumblatt and a veteran politician, Marwan Hamadeh, had survived a bid on his life.

The Druze is community is a minority Muslim sect that appeared during the Islamic Fatimite rule. Most of its members live in the mountains of Lebanon, Syria and some parts of Israel. -Kuna