BEIRUT (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Lebanese choked downtown Beirut to pay tribute to assassinated Christian leader Pierre Gemayel on Thursday.Sunni Muslim, Druze and Christian leaders have accused Syria of killing Gemayel, scion of one of Lebanon's most prominent Maronite families. Damascus has condemned his murder.

The anti-Syrian camp says the aim of the Syrian-backed opposition is to weaken Lebanon's Western-supported government and scupper a U.N.-backed tribunal to try suspects in last year's assassination of ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri."They will not suppress our demands for the truth, justice and the international court," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt told the crowd, speaking behind a bullet-proof screen. He stressed this was no time for strife. "At this moment and above pain and above wounds, we are for dialogue," he said.