Amid heavy security precautions the tense Lebanese capital Beirut held separate mass gatherings to mark the anniversary of the assassination of former Premier Rafiq Hariri and for the funeral of slain Hezbollah military commander Imad Muganiyeh, according to dpa. With the two gatherings only a few kilometres apart, and amid fears of clashes between the rival pro- and anti-Syrian factions, some 20,000 army troops and security forces were deployed in the capital to try to assure calm in the tense atmosphere. Tens of Thousands of Lebanese government supporters attended the rally for Hariri, whose February 14, 2005 assassination sparked anti- Syrian protests that led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after 30 years of militray presence. Meanwhile, the group Hezbollah held funeral services for Muganiyeh, who was killed in a car bomb attack in Damascus on Tuesday. At the Hezbollah rally in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel and warned there would be "open war" with the Israelis as a result.