ANGRY demonstrators have blocked roads across Lebanon in protest at the killing of a top security official in a bomb blast, as the prime minister said he had offered to resign but had been told by the president to remain in the post to avoid a political vacuum.
Lebanon has declared Saturday a day of mourning for the eight people killed in Friday's blast in Beirut's mainly Christian neighbourhood of Ashrafiya.
The attack targeted and killed Sunni Muslim security chief Wissam al-Hassan.
According to the initial investigation the bomb that killed al-Hassan weighed 60 to 70 kilograms.
General Ashraf Rifi, director general of the Internal Security Forces, was cited as saying by the local media that al-Hassan's remains were identified by his revolver and his watch.
The bombing, which also injured more than 80 people and caused large-scale destruction, revived memories of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
Most of the capital's major roads looked deserted, as Lebanese army troops manoeuvred protesters from one street to another.
Many residents in the capital were confined to their homes for fear that the situation might escalate on the streets.
Protests were mainly in Sunni Muslim areas in Beirut, the southern city of Sidon and the northern city of Tripoli.
Black smoke covered much of the capital, where rubbish bins and rubber tyres were set on fire by the angry protesters.
"We are blocking roads to show whoever killed Brigadier al-Hassan that there are people who loved him and supported what he was doing," a protester said in the mainly Sunni-neighbourhood of Kornich al-Mazraa.
Al-Hassan had recently uncovered a Syrian-backed plot to stir unrest in Lebanon.
His investigation linked pro-Syrian politician Michel Semaha to planned bomb attacks.
"So far the situation is contained on the streets," an army officer said on condition of anonymity, as dozens of soldiers and tanks were deployed across the city.
The cabinet held an emergency meeting chaired by President Michel Suleiman to discuss the attack and the security situation.
Prime Minister Nagib Mikati announced after the meeting that he offered to resign but Suleiman asked him to stay in his post to prevent the country from entering a political vacuum.
"President Michel Suleiman has requested a timeframe for consultations over my decision and asked me to hold on to my position in the premiership," Mikati told reporters.
"This is a national issue and we are keen on preserving the nation. We do not want to leave Lebanon in a vacuum," Mikati added.
The opposition March 14 bloc had called on the Hezbollah-led coalition government to resign after the attack and urged their followers to stage an open-ended sit-in in central Beirut to protest the assassination of al-Hassan, who opposed the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The group also called on their loyalists to participate in al-Hassan's funeral on Sunday in what they called a "Day of Rage."
Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, Lebanon's top Sunni cleric, called on Saturday for calm.
"We call on all Lebanese to exert patience and self-restraint and I tell you that the blood of the martyr Wissam al-Hassan and all the others will not go in vain and the perpetrators will be punished - sooner or later," he said in a statement.
Al-Hassan will be laid to rest in a central Beirut square alongside former prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a 2005 car bomb blamed on Syria.
Since Hariri's assassination, Lebanon has been divided between a pro-Syria camp led by Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah and the March 14 coalition group led by Saad Hariri, the late prime minister's son.
March 14 blamed the Syrian government for the assassination.
Lebanon's Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said that al-Hassan received threats before his department implicated Semaha.
Al-Hassan, who attended a conference in Germany earlier this week before returning to Lebanon on Thursday, was advised "not to return to Lebanon," Charbel said.
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