Lebanon PM holds security review

Ms Chidiac is a well-known figure in Lebanese current affairs

Lebanon's prime minister has held a meeting of security chiefs a day after a bomb blast seriously wounded a prominent television journalist.

May Chidiac, a political talk show host, is the first woman to be targeted in a recent series of bombings mainly against anti-Syrian figures.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and his defence and interior ministers discussed steps to stop more attacks.

Students called for sit-in protests at universities and in central Beirut.

Protesters intend to gather in Martyrs' Square - the scene of massive anti-Syrian demonstrations earlier this year - on Monday evening.

Stable condition

Medics said Ms Chidiac had lost her left leg and arm, fractured her pelvis and suffered extensive burns from the bomb which had been placed under her car.

LEBANON ASSASSINATIONS 14 Feb: Ex-PM Rafik Hariri 2 Jun: Columnist Samir Kassir 21 Jun: Communist party chief George Hawi 12 July: Attempt on outgoing Defence Minister Elias Murr

"Her condition is now stable following the surgeries," a spokesman for the Hotel Dieu hospital said.

The family of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has offered to fly skin grafting experts to Lebanon to treat Ms Chidiac, while Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation shareholder and Saudi prince al-Walid bin Talal has put his private jet at her disposal to fly her abroad.

LBC, which was set up by the wartime Christian militia the Lebanese Forces, has been one of the most critical Lebanese media outlets of Syria's control of Lebanon since the Civil War ended in 1990.

Hours before the attack, Ms Chidiac had been discussing Syria's possible role in the assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri in an explosion in February.

Street protests

Sources close to Ms Chidiac are quoted saying she is committed to an independent and sovereign Lebanon and opposes Syrian control - which has been in retreat since Damascus withdrew its troops from Lebanon in the wake of Hariri's death.

The car was badly damaged in the explosion, but its target survived

Several other political figures and members of the public have been killed in bombings since the Hariri assassination.

In June a bomb planted in his car killed newspaper columnist Samir Qasir, who was known for writing strongly critical articles against the pro-Syrian Lebanese regime.

Street protests and international pressure following Hariri's death led Syria to withdraw thousands of troops it had stationed in Lebanon as part of a deal ending years of civil war.

The latest attack comes as a German investigator is preparing to report to the United Nations secretary general on his inquiry into the murder of Hariri next month.