The coalition, in a statement released after an emergency meeting of its follow up committee, praised "the accomplishment achieved by the security forces that uncovered a dangerous terrorist network."

It was referring to the arrest by police of seven SSNP members and the confiscation of large quantities of explosives, detonators and timers from hideouts operated by the party in the northern Kourah province last month.

The daily al-Mustaqbal reported Wednesday that one of the jailed SSNP members, Tony Mansour, had testified to investigators that he was instructed by his party superior-Parliament member Assad Hardan to detonate an explosive charge at a rally organized by the rival phalange party in mid-January 2005. But he failed to carry out the assault due to technical difficulties.

The SSNP has denied the charge and said the weapons and explosives confiscated during the major police bust had been used in fighting Israeli occupation troops.

The March 14 majority coalition called on police to "follow up the investigation (In the SSNP case) to the end … and to complete the disbanding of all the terrorist structures affiliated with the former security system," in reference to Syria's military intelligence that ruled Lebanon until the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon in April 2005 after the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.

The March 14 coalition statement rejected the SSNP claim that the confiscated weapons were used in resistance attacks against the Israeli occupation forces, noting that such resistance activities were carried out by the party in the 1980s"while the confiscated weapons …are new and in usable condition."

It said that the alleged involvement of SSNP members in trying to detonate an explosive charge during a Phalange party rally "confirms that this party, which had played an important role in confronting the Israeli occupation, is being changed now into a mere executive tool used by Syrian intelligence. The reported involvement of parliamentary deputy Assaad Hardan in this terrorist operation adds to the seriousness of the situation."

The statement called on the SSNP to "shoulder its responsibility and adopt a clear stand against those who are trying to change it into a tool that would spark civil conflicts."

It also urged the party to undergo a "revision of its activities."

The statement called on the March 8 opposition alliance, which is led by Hezbollah, to adopt a "clear stand regarding the involvement by one of its factions (SSNP) in terrorist attacks aimed at stirring civil chaos."

Sources: Naharnet, Ya Libnan