2 dead, 3 injured in Beirut explosion

Two people were killed and three injured in a blast which devastated a shopping centre north of Beirut, in what was suspected to be the second attack since last month's killing of ex-premier Rafik Hariri, Lebanese television reported.

"The two dead are an Indian and a Pakistani, and the three injured are two Sri-lankans and one Lebanese," private television station LBCI said, quoting a source from the security services.

It had earlier reported that three people had died in the explosion, which took place in a mainly Christian area near Lebanon's port of Jounie, 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Beirut.

Police said a "violent explosion" had taken place at 1:30 am Wednesday (23:30 GMT Tuesday), confirming only that one woman had died. The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, it said.

The explosion comes days after an overnight bomb blast late last Friday wounded 11 people, increasing public unease after the February 14 assassination of former prime minister Hariri.

That incident was followed by several false bomb alerts.

Political unrest

The explosions come at a time of political friction in Lebanon between the pro-Syrian administration and the country's anti-Syrian opposition, which intensified after the assassination.

The explosion took place in a large shopping centre in Kaslik, where a number of shops, a night club and amusement hall are located.

The force of the blast ripped out the shopping center, causing damage in a radius of several hundred meters, forcing false ceilings to collapse, pillars to warp and blowing out windows.

The television channel said the device which caused the explosion was placed in one of the shopping center's stairwells.

Television showed the body of one victim lying under a blanket.

An anti-Syrian opposition deputy, Fares Boueiz, said the explosion was an attack, aimed at further heightening unrest.

The weekend blast was the first serious incident since popular Hariri and 18 other people were killed in a huge bombing, an attack that ignited public fury and stepped up the momentum for the clamor to get Syrian forces out of Lebanon.

The assassination has been blamed by the opposition on Syrian and Lebanese agents, a charge denied by authorities here and in Damascus.

"They want to destabilize the country...we must not fall into the trap," Boueiz told LBCI.

"This attack is aimed at the movement for independence and sovereignty of Lebanon," he said.

"It is a political message which is being sent to us."

Syria started redeploying its estimated 14,000 soldiers in Lebanon on March 7.

Hariri's death also plunged Lebanon into political turmoil, sharpening an already acute rift between the opposition and pro-Syrian groups. A reappointed pro-Syrian prime minister has so far been stymied in his bid to form a new government and the country is paralyzed politically.