Gunmen on Tuesday assassinated Lebanese Christian cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, an outspoken critic of Syria, plunging Lebanon deeper into a crisis over ties with its dominant neighbor.

At least three gunmen rammed their car into Gemayel's vehicle near Beirut, then leapt out and riddled it with bullets, firing at Gemayel with silencer-equipped automatic weapons at point-blank range in a Christian neighborhood, witnesses said.

Ten bullet holes were seen around the window of the driver's seat of his grey car. The two front seats were soaked in blood.

"We don't want revenge"

The father of the Lebanese anti-Syrian Christian politician and industry minister, Pierre Gemayel, who was killed on Tuesday, has urged supporters to remain calm and avoid retribution.

Amin Gemayel was speaking outside a hospital in the capital, Beirut, where the body of his son was taken on Tuesday.

"I have one wish, that tonight be a night of prayer to contemplate the meaning of this martyrdom and how to protect this country," Amin Gemayel, a former president of Lebanon, said.

"I call on all those who appreciate Pierre's martyrdom to preserve his cause and for all of us to remain at the service of Lebanon. We don't want reactions and revenge."

Massive funeral on Thursday

The anti-Syrian camp in Lebanon called for a massive turnout at the funeral of assassinated Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel on Thursday. The service will first be held at the Maronite Catholic Cathedral of St George in central Beirut at 1pm, according to a statement from the March 14 group.

"The entire world will hear in the next few days the real voice of Lebanon, the voice of freedom, sovereignty and independence," said former MP Fares Sahed, reading the statement.

"The March 14 forces calls on their followers and friends ... to participate massively in the popular burial of the heroic martyr Pierre Gemayel," it said. They also called for a total shutdown of businesses across Lebanon.

The group said "sadness has turned into anger" after today's assassination.

"We will go after the criminals and all those who cover this crime ... the blood of Pierre Gemayel will not go in vain," it said.

But "the March 14 forces also call on all their followers ... to stay away from any sign of discord which only serves the objectives of the evil criminals".

Following the funeral, Mr Gemayel's body will then be taken to his home village of Bikfaya, in the mountains east of the capital, for burial.

Anti-Syrian Funeral vs. Pro-Syrian Protests

Amidst calls for anti-Syrian supporters to gather en mass for Thursday's funeral, Lebanon's pro-Syrian factions have yet to stand down on their call for protests and disobedience on the same day.

Syria's key allies in Lebanon, Hezbollah, Michel Aoun and Nabih Berri, have expressed sorrow for the murder, yet the plans for Thursday's anti-government protest have not been called off. With emotions on the rise, many fear that rival protests on Thursday could turn violent, possibly even sparking renewed internal conflict.

After Gemayel's slaying, angry anti-Syrian protesters in the Christian town of Zahle in east Lebanon blocked streets and shouted slogans against Hezbollah and Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, but Gemayel's father urged against revenge.

A group of youth in the Christian neighborhood of Ashrafieh responded by burning Aoun's giant poster in Sassine square.

"Michel Aoun, you are the ally of murderers," those outside the hospital screamed, telling Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to "go to Iran."

With tensions running high late Tuesday in Beirut, soldiers were out on the streets in force.

U.N. Security Council

The United Nations Security Council "unequivocally" condemned the killing as it endorsed plans for a special international court to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

A French-drafted statement read by Jorge Voto-Bernales, the Peruvian ambassador and council president, described Gemayel as "a patriot who was a symbol of freedom and of the political independence of Lebanon."

French president Jacques Chirac issued the following statement: "Although Lebanon has been hit by this terrible tragedy, France is convinced the Lebanese people's will for independence, freedom and democracy will emerge even stronger."

The 15-member council also called for all parties in Lebanon to exercise restraint.

The action by the 15-nation council, in the form of a letter to Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, cleared the way for the plans to be submitted to the Lebanese government for its formal approval.

The UN investigation into al-Hariri's murder that is still under way has implicated senior officials from Syria, for decades the power-broker in its smaller neighbor.

View the Pierre Gemayel Photo Gallery

Sources: Ya Libnan, Al Jazeera, Reuters