Lebanon marks independence day amid tension with Syria

Three fighters of Shiite militant group Hezbollah were killed and 11 Israelis wounded in the eve-of-holiday exchanges which erupted the length of the UN-demarcated frontier.

Hezbollah said it had attacked two Israeli military vehicles after they strayed into Lebanese territory but Israeli military sources insisted the attack had been unprovoked.

The deadly exchange prompted Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli border towns and the fiercest bombardment of Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms district in months.

Israel riposted with shelling and a series of air raids against suspected Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon.

In an independence day address, under-fire pro-Damascus President Emile Lahoud defended Hezbollah against UN demands for its disarmament, which he dismissed as a foreign plot against its "resistance" to Israel.

"Let no one imagine that the series of crimes that have been perpetrated in Lebanon and the foreign interventions trying to end the resistance are isolated acts -- there's a conspiracy being hatched against our country," Lahoud said.

Seven months after the last Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon, a military parade and a march to Beirut's new Freedom Square as well as concerts will mark the 62nd anniversary of independence from France.

Syria wound up a deployment that dated back to 1976, a year after the outbreak of Lebanon's 15-year civil war, under international pressure over the February 14 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri.

The accusations of Syrian involvement in the murder have triggered a backlash from Syria's traditional allies in Lebanon, the Shiite movements Hezbollah and Amal.

From within the ranks of the Beirut government, they have warned against Lebanon being placed under the domination of the Western powers which have pointed the finger of blame at Damascus.

The daily As-Safir warned Monday of the "political vacuum" in the country, with the government disunited and the pro-Syrian president resisting calls for his resignation.

Lahoud reiterated his determination to stay on in his address to the nation Monday evening.

"It is not easy for any official to shirk his duties," he said.

The president said he had been "wounded by the repeated libel" of those demanding his resignation since Hariri's murder.

In a sign of the president's isolation, European Union ambassadors along with several MPs are staying away from the traditional reception at the Baabda presidential palace, sending their aides, Western diplomats said.

But Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, out of respect for state institutions, has announced he will attend.

On the eve of independence day, the premier called for Syria to learn to treat its smaller neighbour as an independent state.

"The Syrians must get used to dealing with Lebanon as an independent state, an independence which does no harm to Syria," he said in a statement carried by local newspapers.

"The Lebanese must also be persuaded that they live in an independent country which is free to take its own decisions," said Siniora, calling for "cordial and healthy ties with Syria, based on mutual respect".

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who in a major speech earlier this month called Siniora a "servant" of his Western masters, sent a congratulatory message to Lahoud.

The message underlined "Syria's commitment to brotherly relations between the two countries in keeping with the wishes of the people of Syria and Lebanon and their long historical and cultural links".

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