Lebanon buries slain officer, vows to fight terror

By Yara Bayoumy

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's police chief vowed on Saturday to confront those who "terrorise this nation" at a memorial service for a police intelligence officer killed in a car bomb attack the previous day.

Captain Wisam Eid, who helped investigate assassinations in Lebanon, and his bodyguard were killed when a car bomb ripped through a Christian suburb of Beirut on Friday.

Police said the death toll in the attack had risen to five, from four, and there were 42 wounded.

Eid's assassination was the latest in a series of bombings and political killings over the past three years. The turmoil has fuelled the worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

"They thought that with their crime, they can affect our commitment and will, but they are really delusional," said police chief Brigadier General Ashraf Rifi at the memorial service at the internal security forces' headquarters in Beirut.

"We pledge to you that the internal security forces will continue to confront those who wanted to terrorise this nation with their crimes ... our decision is to ... confront the empire of death and terrorism," Rifi said.

U.S. President George W. Bush offered his condolences.

"This bombing, the latest in a series of terrorist attacks targeting those who are working to secure Lebanon's independence and sovereignty, is a part of the continuing assault on Lebanon's institutions," Bush said in a statement.