Two die in Easter Beirut car bomb attack

BEIRUT - A car bomb exploded in an industrial suburb of Christian east Beirut on the eve of Easter, killing two, wounding at least eight people and raising fresh fears of a slide into Lebanon's violent past.


A leading anti-Syrian Opposition figure blamed the Damascus-backed Lebanese security authorities for the blast yesterday, the third in eight days in the Christian heartland.


Earlier in the day, Lebanon's opposition, which also blames Syria and its allies for the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, urged the country's security chiefs to resign to make way for an international probe into the death.


"They [Syrian-backed security services] will use all means to try to destroy national accord," opposition leader Walid Jumblatt, of the religious community Druze, told LBC television. "It is true that today they are targeting Christian areas but before that they targeted ... Hariri."


Security sources said a Buick car parked at a car repair shop for some time had apparently been rigged with 25kg of TNT and exploded in the industrial estate in Dikwanah suburb in east Beirut.


The two killed were Indian citizens working in the area.


Fire fighters were trying to contain blazes in at least four buildings that sent thick black smoke rising into the night sky.


The buildings housed carpentry workshops, printing houses, car repair shops and warehouses, many containing flammable chemicals such as thinner and paint that helped the fire spread.


"All we heard was a big explosion and the windows broke. We rushed outside and saw flames coming from the buildings," Joseph Osabuyos, who lives nearby, said.


- REUTERS