A coalition of Lebanese groups, angered by the recent assassination of a prominent anti-Syrian journalist, called Monday for the ousting of Lebanon’s pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.

The call came as anti-Syrian youth activists protested in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, late Monday to press for Lahoud’s resignation and removal of pro-Syrian agents in Lebanon’s security services.

Monday's meeting of the coalition of anti-Syrian legislators and politicians came after An-Nahar newspaper general manager and legislator Gibran Tueni was killed in a December 12 car bombing.

Tueni was the third anti-Syrian critic killed in similar circumstances since the February 14 blast that killed ex-Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri in Beirut.

Hariri’s killing sparked massive protests by Lebanese who accused Syria of involvement. The massive anti-Syrian sentiment forced Syria to withdraw its thousands of soldiers from Lebanon in April.

“We call on all those who participated in the independence uprising to continue the battle and to oust the remnants of the security regime from the positions they are still holding, namely the presidency position,” legislator Samir Franjieh said in a statement after the meeting.

Franjieh was referring to the estimated one million people who participated in a mass anti-Syrian demonstration in central Beirut on March 14.

Syria has rejected accusations of involvement in the killings. But a UN probe has implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in Hariri’s death.

The coalition’s statement also urged Prime Minister Fuad Saniora’s government to be on “full alert to confront the war launched by the Syrian regime against Lebanon”, the late Hariri’s Future Television reported.

Lahoud has repeatedly rejected previous calls to resign, vowing to remain in office until his renewed mandate expires in 2007. Officials from his office were not immediately available for comment.

The call for his ousting came as students and youth activists from various Christian and Muslim groups opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon began last week to re-erect what had been known as “Camp Freedom” on Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut.

Some 300 students staged a sit-in in the square by lighting a “torch of freedom” and shouting slogans denouncing Lahoud and Syrian President Bashar Assad. A placard read: “What I Say Lahoud Carries Out (signed: Bashar Assad).”

A number of anti-Syrian politicians, including Minister of Youth and Sports Ahmad Fatfat, briefly joined the protest, which the students have vowed to continue until their demands – including Lahoud’s resignation – are met.

The students camped there for more than two months last spring after Hariri’s assassination until Syria withdrew its troops, which first deployed in Lebanon in 1976 after the onset of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war to act as a stabilising force.

Youth activists representing anti-Syrian groups urged Lebanese to come to the square and revive the camp “to defend Lebanon’s unity in the face of the Syrian regime’s attacks and the grudges of the ruling family in Syria”.

A statement issued by protest organisers in the northern city of Tripoli demanded Lahoud’s resignation and blamed Syrian and allied-Lebanese security services for Tueni’s assassination.

Hour of silence

Hundreds of Tueni's supporters, mainly journalists from An-Nahar and other media outlets, joined the victim's widow, Siham Asseily, and his two daughters, Nayla and Michelle, in a sit-in on Monday outside the An-Nahar building in central Beirut, observing an hour's silence.

"We call on all those who participated in the independence uprising to continue the battle and to oust the remnants of the security regime from the positions they are still holding, namely the presidency position," Samir Franjieh, a legislator, said in a statement after the meeting.

Franjieh was referring to the estimated one million people who participated in a mass anti-Syrian demonstration in central Beirut on 14 March.

Syria has rejected accusations of involvement in the killings. But a UN inquiry has implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in al-Hariri's death.

The coalition's statement also urged the government of Fuad Siniora to be on "full alert to confront the war launched by the Syrian regime against Lebanon", the late al-Hariri's Future Television reported.

Lahoud has repeatedly rejected previous calls to resign, vowing to remain in office until his renewed mandate expires in 2007. Officials from his office were not immediately available for comment.

UN investigator

In other news, a Belgian prosecutor with the International Criminal Court probably will take over the UN investigation into the death of al-Hariri, UN officials and diplomats said on Monday.

Serge Brammertz, the deputy prosecutor of The Hague-based court, would replace German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who has announced he would leave the inquiry as soon as a replacement is chosen.

Barring a last-minute hitch, the appointment of Brammertz, a former federal prosecutor of Belgium, was expected to be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday, the envoys said on condition of anonymity.

Brammertz would take a leave of absence from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was set up more than two years ago to prosecute individuals suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

He was appointed to his ICC position in November 2003 for a six-year term and has had experience in chasing down terrorists in Belgium. (Agencies)