“Today, I announce the resignation of the cabinet in the hope it will open the way for a solution to the major political blocs to take responsibility and come together to bring Lebanon out of the unknown,” Mikati said at a news conference at the Grand Serail on Friday evening.

Mikati’s resignation came hours after President Michel Sleiman had adjourned the cabinet session, a move that was triggered by a sharp political rift between Ministers over the formation of an elections supervision committee, as well as some minister’s utter refusal to even discuss the extension of ISF chief, Ashraf Rifi’s mandate.

Major General Ashraf Rifi, head of Lebanon’s internal security forces, is due to retire early next month. Rifi, like Mikati, is a Sunni Muslim from Tripoli, and is distrusted by Hezbollah.

In his resignation address to the Lebanese, Mikati said the country’s mounting political crisis could only be resolved via National Dialogue.

“There is no salvation for Lebanon except through dialogue that can pave the way for the formation of a salvation government,” the outgoing Prime Minister said.

He went on to recount the times when he had previously contemplated resignation.

“I decided to resign twice during my mandate. Once over the conflict-ridden issue of funding Lebanon’s dues toward the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the other was following the assassination of Information Branch Chief Brig. Gen. Wissam Hasan,” Mikati said, hoping his third and final resignation would get both sides of the Lebanese political divide to share equal responsibility seeking means to salvage the nation.

Mikati formed his 30-member cabinet on June 13, 2011, months after the collapse of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government and in the wake of the uprising in Syria.

Lebanese forces set up road blocks boosting security in the capital as thousands descended for the public funeral on Sunday, according to AFP.

Wissam al-Hassan, the intelligence chief of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) targeted Friday, had headed an investigation that led to the Aug. 9 arrest of former Information Minister Michel Samaha, one of Assad’s most loyal allies in Lebanon who was recently accused of trying to smuggle explosives into Lebanon from Syria, according to Al Arabiya.

Al-Hassan had also led an investigation that implicated Syria and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, in the assassination of former PM Rafiq al-Hariri.

Thousands of supporters of Lebanon’s opposition March 14 coalition poured into Beirut for today’s funeral of an assassinated security official and for a “day of rage” against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Saad al-Hariri, leader of the opposition, urged all of Lebanon to attend the funeral in central Beirut.

Lebanon is divided between those that support Assad’s regime and those that back the rebels seeking his overthrow in the country’s bloody 20-month conflict.

The March 14 alliance called on Lebanon’s government to resign over the attack, which it blamed on the Syrian regime. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday that he offered his resignation but that President Michel Suleiman asked him to stay on for a “period of time”, according to Naharet.

Friday’s blast, which also wounded at least 80 people, drew worldwide condemnation ,  as French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday on French TV that Syria was probably involved in the Ashrafiyeh car bombing that killed Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan and at least three other people.

Omran al-Zohbi, the Syrian information minister, also condemned the “terrorist, cowardly” attack as he said.

However, both Saad Hariri and Walid Jumblatt, the influential Druze leader, accused al-Assad of being behind the bombing.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon contacted on Saturday Prime Minister Najib Miqati to express his “solidarity with the Lebanese people” after the assassination al-Hasan.