Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati vowed Thursday to take all necessary measures to investigate the killing of a prominent anti-Syrian journalist.

Shortly after Samir Qaseer was killed when a bomb exploded in his car in Beirut on Thursday, Mikati presided over a meeting attended by the ministers of justice, interior, information and defence.

The prime minister said the authorities were still collecting information about the murder and state prosecutors have been instructed to invoke all judicial powers to nab the killers.

Lebanon's anti-Syria opposition called for the resignation of President Emile Lahoud, an ally of Damascus, after the killing.

"The opposition sees the response to this new crime should be... the resignation of the president as the effective head of the security and intelligence regime," a statement issued after a meeting of opposition leaders said.

The meeting also called for a general strike on Friday to mourn Samir Qaseer, a front page columnist at Lebanon's leading daily An- Nahar.

Security sources said Qaseer, 45, died instantly when a bomb under the driver's seat blew up as he switched on the ignition outside his home in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood in the mainly Christian eastern area of Beirut.

A passer-by was injured. Several cars were damaged and windows in nearby buildings were shattered by the explosion.

The blast came just four days after the start of the country's parliamentary elections over four Sundays between May 29 and June 19.

Source: Xinhua