A prominent Lebanese politician and campaigning journalist who threatened to expose those behind the car-bomb killing of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was murdered today in an almost identical manner.

Gibran Tueni, 48, a Christian MP who has been a vocal critic of Syrian influence in his country, was among four people who died in a fierce explosion on a winding mountain road in east Beirut.

Mr Tueni, who was editor-in-chief of Lebanon's leading liberal newspaper An-Nahar, his driver Nicolas Flouti and two other people died instantly. At least 30 other people were wounded, two of them seriously, at around 9am (0700GMT) in the Christian district of Mkalles.

Police sources told Reuters that a parked car packed with 40kg (88lb) of dynamite was detonated by remote control as Mr Tueni’s armoured jeep passed by. It was thrown off the road by the force of the blast and tumbled into the ravine.

Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Druse community, confirmed details of his killing and in a televised address said: "God have mercy on Gibran ... and An-Nahar will remain the beacon for freedom."

Today's car bomb is the latest of at least five similar killings of anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon's Christian areas, which followed the death of Mr Hariri in February.

Mr Tueni returned yesterday to Beirut from Paris, where - like many senior figures - he had been sheltering from the threats on his life. Mr Jumblatt said that the bombing was intended to silence a voice who had sought those responsible for Mr Hariri's assassination.

"Jibran Tueni and An-Nahar were being threatened for a long time by the Syrian regime... we got the message. We will persevere," he said.

The attack came hours before Detlev Mehlis, the UN chief investigator, was to deliver his latest report to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on the extent of Syria’s cooperation with the inquiry into Mr Hariri's murder.

In an interim report published in October, senior Syrian security officials were implicated in the killing, and a resolution was adopted demanding that Damascus complies fully with investigation.

Damascus - already under intense pressure from the US over Iraq - denies any involvement in the Hariri killing, which prompted a popular uprising forcing its armies to withdraw from Lebanese territory.

It has released a statement through its official news agency, suggesting that today's blast indicated an intention to further damage Syria's reputation. It denounced the bombing and said that its timing was "intended to direct accusations at Syria".

In spite of the Syrian regime's denials, many in Lebanon regard the latest twist in the plot as evidence that the Syrians are involved.

Mr Tueni, a father with four daughters who was elected to parliament this year, said in August that he believed he was on a hitlist for assassination.

"Lebanese officials received accurate information from the international investigation committee about an assassination list of several politicians," he told the Arabic-language Radio Orient in Paris in August. "My name is on top of this list."

He was chairman of the board and general manager of An-Nahar. A columnist at the daily, Samir Kassir, who also criticised Syrian policies, was killed by a bomb in his car in June.

Last month, following the "suicide" of Ghazi Kanaan, the Interior Minister and former head of military intelligence, Mr Tueni wrote a personal editorial in an-Nahar: "I don't believe in the suicide story. The regime is worried that he knew too much about Syria's behaviour inside and outside Lebanon. What happened today is proof that the Syrian regime is feeling the (UN) report is getting closer to them, and they are beginning to panic," he wrote.

Mr Mehlis, a German prosecutor, and his 100-strong team of investigators and technicians have spent four months tracking Mr Hariri's killers, interviewing hundreds of people including, a month ago, General Kanaan and other key Syrian officials involved with Lebanon.

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