UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council warned Wednesday that those responsible for terrorist attacks against Lebanese journalists and politicians will not be allowed to jeopardize the country's stability, democracy and national unity.

The council also encouraged member states to respond positively to any request for assistance from the Lebanese government in bringing to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of the most recent attack, on prominent journalist May Chidiac, and other terrorist attacks.

A senior Lebanese diplomat at the United Nations welcomed the Security Council statement, saying the Lebanese government needs the support of the United Nations' most powerful body. Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has also requested help from the United States and France.

The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because he had not received official authorization, said the attackers are trying to destroy the country's recent achievements and must be stopped.

Agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday were already combing debris from the bomb that tore through Chidiac's car near the port city of Jounieh north of the capital Beirut three days ago. Chidiac, a talk show host and anchorwoman on a popular TV station which has taken a line opposed to Syria, was maimed in the bombing.

Saniora said Sunday the attack on Chidiac was related to the UN investigation into the murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in a Feb. 14 bombing in Beirut that claimed 20 other lives.

UN investigators spent four days last week questioning officials in Syria, whose army and intelligence units were in control of Lebanon at the time of Hariri's assassination. Four Lebanese security generals close to Syria are under arrest on suspicion of involvement, and there is widespread speculation that the investigation, led by Detlev Mehlis, could possibly implicate the Syrian government.

Hariri's murder shook Lebanese politics, triggering mass protests that brought down the pro-Syrian government two weeks later and forcing Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April after nearly 30 years.

Since Hariri's assassination, a series of smaller bombs have exploded in Lebanese commercial centers and cars, killing several people, including two anti-Syrian activists - former Communist boss George Hawi and journalist Samir Kassir.

The Security Council expressed deep sympathy to Chidiac, who lost an arm and a leg, and wished her a speedy recovery.

"The members of the Security Council welcomed the determination of the Lebanese government to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of this and other terrorist attacks," the council statement said.

"The members of the Security Council warned that those responsible for such crimes will not be permitted to jeopardize the stability, sovereignty, democracy and national unity of Lebanon," it said.

Meanwhile, Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN envoy on Syria-Lebanon issues, arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for a round of talks, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

He met Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to discuss implementation of a UN resolution that calls for the withdrawal of all Syrian intelligence operatives from Lebanon and the disarming of all militias in the country. He also was having a working dinner with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and was scheduled to meet President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday. (AP)