DAMASCUS: Many in Lebanon have accused Syria of being behind the assassination of Christian politician Pierre Gemayel, but Damascus denies any hand in Tuesday's attack, which it says damaged its own interests.

Syria now expects its enemies to use the killing to blacken its image and dash its hopes of a thaw in ties with the West.

Many Lebanese politicians say the slaying of another anti-Syrian figure in Lebanon was a Syrian bid to block a UN-backed tribunal being set up to try the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Syria, while clearly unhappy with the tribunal and with Lebanon's Western-backed government, argues that Gemayel's death plays into the hands of its Lebanese opponents and hurts its chances of dialogue with Europe and the United States.

“Syria is outraged by this terrible act,” the Syrian embassy in Washington said in a statement. “In a time when the international community is advocating more engagement with Syria, such an act only stands to undermine these initiatives.”Damascus had been heartened by mounting calls for US President George W. Bush to talk to Syria and Iran, instead of punishing them, and to seek their help in stabilising Iraq.

Gemayel's assassins struck just hours after Syria had taken a major symbolic step in restoring diplomatic ties with Iraq, without insisting on a prior timetable for a US troop pullout.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed that move. “The very thing we have been seeking is to ensure that Syria becomes a help to Iraq rather than a hindrance,” he said.

Blair, who eased Syria's isolation earlier this month by sending a senior envoy for talks with President Bashar al-Assad on Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Lebanon, has avoided blaming Syria directly for Gemayel's killing.

Bush also stopped just short of accusing Damascus of killing the industry minister, but voiced support for the Lebanese people's “efforts to defend their democracy against attempts by Syria, Iran and allies to foment instability and violence”.So Syria finds itself again under the cloud of suspicion that has trailed it since Hariri's assassination last year and the killings of five other foes of its influence in Lebanon.

“The impact is bad because it will be used by the Lebanese March 14 (anti-Syrian) bloc to point the finger at Syria,” said political analyst Ayman Abdel Nour. “It has already been used to get consensus in the UN Security Council for the tribunal.

“And it will be used by hardliners in the UN administration to stop any dialogue with Syria,” he said.The UN Security Council swiftly endorsed plans for the Hariri court after Gemayel's death, which Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has asked the United Nations to add to the list of political murders it is already investigating.

Lebanon's final approval for the court-- from the cabinet, the pro-Syrian president and parliament-- is still needed.

Siniora's cabinet, badly weakened by the resignations of its Shia members and Gemayel's killing, is desperate to get the tribunal approved while it can still resist demands from Hezbollah and its allies for a national unity government.

Hezbollah says its campaign, at least temporarily stalled by three days of national mourning for Gemayel, is not to torpedo the court, but to form a broader-based cabinet that would keep Lebanon out of Washington's orbit.

The Syrian government Baath newspaper said Gemayel had been killed to prevent Hezbollah and its allies from launching planned street protests to topple Siniora's government.

“The murderer wanted to impede the popular action called by Hezbollah and delay the inevitable downfall of the government,” it said, suggesting that agents of Israel or another power could have killed Gemayel.—Reuters