Two grenades hit building near UN HQ in Beirut

Beirut, Oct 15: Two rocket-propelled grenades hit a building near the headquarters of the United Nations in Beirut early today, slightly wounding four people, security sources and witnesses said.

They said the grenades, fired from a small hill in central Beirut, hit a building that houses offices, a bank branch and a nightclub in Riad el-Solh some 30 metres from the UN o0ffices.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the pre-dawn attack.

Police and army soldiers cordoned off the street and began investigations.

Downtown Beirut, rebuilt after the 1975-1990 civil war, also houses the headquarters of the Lebanese government, commercial banks, shops and restaurants.

A stun grenade exploded near a police barracks in Beirut last week causing little damage and no casualties.

A UN peacekeeping force is deployed in south Lebanon to monitor a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas that ended a 34-day war in August.

REUTERS

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