In significant moves that met key demands of the Lebanese opposition and the international community, Lebanon's new Prime Minister Najib Mikati pledged yesterday to hold parliamentary elections by May 29 and two powerful pro-Syrian security chiefs stepped down from their posts. The separate announcements were certain to ease political tensions, which have been running high since the Feb. 14 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Mikati promised parliamentary elections by May 29, two days before the current Parliament's term ends. It was the first time a government leader has given a specific date for the vote — a key demand of the opposition, which is confident it will win. The two top pro-Syrian security chiefs who stepped down yesterday were Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, director-general of the Interior Ministry's General Security Department, and Maj. Gen. Ali Hajj, commander of Internal Security Forces, or police. Mikati immediately welcomed the move, which comes a few weeks before a UN team investigating Hariri's assassination was expected to travel to Lebanon. Sayyed, a former army general, is considered the most powerful security chief in Lebanon. Both said they were placing themselves "at the disposal" of the prime minister, a formula that means they are stepping aside and will have no executive power but stops short of an outright resignation. Hajj told The Associated Press that he was taking the step "to facilitate the work of the international investigation commission until the end of its mission." He said it was up to the Cabinet to decide whether to reinstate him later.
Meanwhile yesterday, thousands of Beirutis bid farewell to lawmaker and former Economy Minister Bassel Fleihan, who died in a French hospital Monday from wounds sustained in the same bombing. Mourners showered the flag-covered casket with rose petals as it snaked through city streets in a hearse then on an open horse-drawn carriage before the funeral at a downtown church. The crowd waved Lebanese flags and carried pictures of Hariri and Fleihan as well as black placards that read "The Truth" — referring to the opposition demand for answers as to who killed Hariri. Shouts of "Allahu