Beirut, Lebanon ? The opposition accused Syria of interfering in Lebanon’s politics, blaming Damascus for Thursday’s killing of a prominent anti-Syrian journalist – slain by a bomb placed under the driver’s seat of his car.

Syria denied any involvement in the killing of Samir Kassir, which came as the Lebanese prepared to vote in Sunday’s second round of parliamentary elections – a ballot the anti-Syrian opposition hopes to win and end Damascus’ control of the legislature.

Opposition leaders called for a general strike today to protest the killing, carried out even as an international team was investigating the February assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, whose death led to the ouster of Syrian troops after nearly three decades in Lebanon.

Anti-Syrian leaders were quick to make a link between the two killings. Hariri’s son and political heir, Saad Hariri, said the same people were behind both assassinations, “and God knows what’s coming.”

“We will not be afraid. : We want our freedom, we want our independence, we want our sovereignty and no one is going to stop us,” a defiant Hariri said.

Kassir was killed at midmorning inside his car in the Christian Beirut neighborhood of Ashrafieh, where he lived. The bomb set the car afire and shattered windows in nearby buildings.

Kassir, a 45-year-old Christian, was an academic and founding member of the Democratic Left Movement, a small group that joined the anti-Syrian opposition and played an active role in the protest campaign against Damascus’ control. He wrote a column in An-Nahar, a leading newspaper that frequently criticizes Syria.