A bomb blast set off huge fires in a mainly Christian suburb of Beirut on Saturday, injuring five people in the third such attack in eight days. Opposition leaders blamed Syria, saying Damascus hoped to sow fear as it withdraws troops from Lebanon. The latest attack, targeting an industrial area in Beirut's northeastern Bouchrieh area, raised tensions another notch in Lebanon, which has been gripped by political turmoil over Syria's presence since the Feb. 14 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.A 55 pound bomb was placed between a car and a furniture factory, said Lebanon's police chief, Maj. Gen. Sarkis Tadros, citing an explosives expert. The blast destroyed nearby cars, shattered windows and left a crater that was 3 feet deep and 10 feet wide. A Lebanese woman and two Indian workers were injured, as were two civil defense workers working on extinguishing the fire that engulfed at least six buildings, security officials said. "They must love us — we got it twice in a week," Bouchrieh mayor Antoine Gebara told Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. He was referring to last Saturday's explosion in the nearby predominantly Christian neighborhood of Jdeideh that injured nine people. Five days later, another bomb blast killed three people near the port city of Jounieh, Lebanon's Christian heartland.
Witnesses said the blast on the eve of the Easter holiday occurred three hours before Catholics were to head to a midnight Mass. The motive behind the latest attacks wasn't clear, but Lebanese opposition leaders have blamed Syrian security agents and pro-Damascus Lebanese authorities for trying to show a need for Syria's military presence in Lebanon in the midst of a Syrian troop withdrawal. Each attack has targeted Christian, anti-Syrian strongholds, raising fears of the return of the sectarian violence that plagued Lebanon during the 1975-90 civil war. "They (Syrians) think they can destroy Lebanese national unity this way. But the Lebanese will remain steadfast till infinity," exiled Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun told Al-Arabiya TV. Aoun said the situation calls for "changing the security organizations related to Syria. This can't be delayed."