UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the assassination of a Lebanese army general today and called for calm and restraint as the country faces a political crisis over electing a president.
A car bomb killed Brigadier General Francois al-Hajj, head of army operations, in a Christian suburb of Beirut, removing a leading contender to replace military chief General Michel Suleiman who is set to be elected president next week.
Five people were reported to have been killed and dozens hurt in the attack.
"The Secretary-General was outraged by yet another terrorist attack in Lebanon," Mr Ban's spokeswoman said in a statement.
"The Secretary-General strongly condemns this act of violence and terror on the Lebanese Armed Forces, a symbol of Lebanon's sovereignty," he said.
The attack heightened tension in Lebanon where rival leaders are embroiled in a struggle over the presidency that has fueled the biggest political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Mr Ban's statement said this attack and previous ones aimed at undermining Lebanon's sovereignty were unacceptable.
"The Secretary General calls on the Lebanese for calm and restraint at this critical juncture in their history.
"Their political leaders must exert every possible effort to resolve differences and arrive at a solution for an immediate presidential election, without conditionality, in accordance with constitutional rules," Mr Ban said.
On Monday, Lebanon's parliament speaker postponed a presidential election to December 17th, the 8th delay of a vote repeatedly put off over differences between the anti-Syrian governing coalition and the opposition backed by Damascus.
The feuding camps agreed last week on General Suleiman as a consensus candidate for the post, which has been vacant since November 24th after the term of Emile Lahoud ended.
Electing Mr Suleiman would ease Lebanon's worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. His nomination followed intense French-led mediation to resolve the crisis.
Arab and Western states have expressed concern that a prolonged vacuum in the presidency could further destabilise Lebanon, which has seen some sporadic deadly sectarian clashes earlier this year.
Lebanon has also seen several assassinations of anti-Syrian figures since the killing of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri in February 2005. Most recently Christian lawmaker Antoine Ghanem was killed in a car bomb attack in September.