The bodies of Ziad Qabalan, 25, and Ziad Ghandour, 12, who were abducted earlier this week, were found on Thursday in a field. Qabalan had been a member of the pro-government Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) along with Ghandour's father, which is headed by Druze leader MP Walid Jumblatt.

The PSP transported the coffins of the 2 slain youths from al-Maqasid hospital to their homes in Wata el Musaitbeh .

Jumblatt led the funeral proceedings along with several leaders from the March 14, anti-Syrian alliance amidst heavy security.

Security sources said at least one suspect had been detained and others were being sought in the killing. They said the two youths had been killed by several bullets to the head and body.

Their killings were believed to be a revenge attack for the slaying of a Shi'ite Muslim activist in January clashes between supporters of the government, which has Sunni backing, and the opposition, which includes Lebanon's main Shi'ite groups.

Rival leaders have condemned the killings and appealed for calm. Druze PSP leader Walid Jumblatt said official investigations must take their course and that the killings should not be politicized. He called on his followers to exercise maximum restraint and to trust the state for finding the killers and bringing them to justice.

Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, a powerful faction within the opposition, called on Lebanon's security forces and judiciary to bring the killers to justice.

The abductions have stirred memories of sectarian kidnappings during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Many Lebanese fear that the current political crisis, the country's worst since the war, could turn into a new conflict.

Newspaper As-Safir wrote of Lebanese fear of "attempts to move the 'Iraqi scenario' to their fragile arena," in reference to sectarian violence in Iraq. Commentator Talal Salman wrote that the killing had shown the dangers faced by Lebanon.

"The experience has been bitter, but it has alerted all to the fact that another mistake will take the country to a catastrophe from which there will be no resurrection," he wrote.

Lebanese media had reported that Qabalan and Ghandour had been kidnapped by members of a Shi'ite clan who had vowed to avenge the killing of their relative in the January clashes.

But, named by media as the Shi'ite Shamas clan, the group condemned the kidnapping and distanced itself from the abduction.

Ten people have been killed in sporadic violence since the opposition launched a campaign in December to topple the government, which is backed by the country's most powerful Sunni leader, Saad al-Hariri.

Mass condemnation for the murder

Defense Minister Elias Murr said suspects in the crime "are known. We are chasing them and we hope to arrest them." Murr said that the two may have been killed in revenge for the death of Shamas. Murr said Shamas' relatives had fled their homes, reinforcing suspicions they may be behind the killings.

Premier Fouad Saniora described the kidnapping and murder as a "national disaster" and stressed that "we shall not rest until the criminals are brought to justice."

MP Saad Hariri said the victims are "innocent martyrs”. I am confident that the state security agencies would reveal the truth and the criminals will be punished."

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea urged security agencies "to tell us as soon as possible who is responsible for this crime and what are the motives."

Lebanon's most senior Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, said the kidnapping was a "major crime whose perpetrators should be prosecuted."

Top picture: A woman mourns the the killed innocent youths.

The "innocent martyrs" as MP Saad Hariri called them . Ziad Qabalan, 25 ( R) , and Ziad Ghandour, 12

Relatives of Ziad Ghandour, 12, whose body was found on the side of a road near the southern port of Sidon on Thursday, four days after he was kidnapped with his neighbor, mourn in front of his house Friday April 27, 2007.

The father of Ziad Ghandour, center, cries Friday, April 27, 2007, as mourners carry the coffins of Ghandour, 12, right, and Ziad Qabalan, 25, Left,
Sources: Reuters, Naharnet, Ya Libnan