Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan said Thursday the assassination of his top aide Saleh Aridi was aimed at sowing discord and destroying unity in the mountain.

"Aridi's assassination was aimed at sowing discord and destroying the mountain and its unity," Arslan told reporters in Baisour, the scene of a car bomb explosion late Wednesday that killed his right-hand man and wounded six people.

Arslan, who cut short a trip abroad, arrived in Beirut Thursday morning to make preparations for the funeral.

"The message has arrived to the entire (people of the) mountains and to the Lebanese Democratic Party," Arslan said.

"What you and I have started together on May 7 shall continue for the sake of the mountains and the nation," Arslan said in reference to Aridi's efforts toward consolidating peace in the Druze-controlled region.

"Unity in the mountains, which we launched hand-in-hand with (Druze leader and MP) Walid Jumblat and the Resistance master (Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah), shall continue," Arslan angrily vowed.

He stressed that "while political differences are legitimate, unrest and divide are forbidden."

Arslan said he will refer the assassination to the judicial council, Lebanon's highest court.