Lebanon bus blasts kill 11, wounds 20

Beirut, Feb 13: Eleven people were killed and about 20 wounded in two bomb blasts that wrecked minibuses near the Christian mountain town of Bikfaya north of Beirut today, security sources said.

The attacks on the public buses occurred a day before the second anniversary of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Security fears have been running high in Lebanon since clashes last month between supporters and opponents of the Western-backed government.

Television footage showed several destroyed vehicles, including a minibus with its roof torn off, on a mountain road.

Pools of blood lay near one vehicle.

Some passengers were blown apart and body parts were strewn near the buses, which were about 50 metres apart. When the first bomb exploded, the driver of the second bus stopped and got out. His own bus then exploded, security sources said.

The driver of the first bus was killed. The driver of the second was wounded, the sources added.

Hospitals in the area appealed for blood donations.

Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa said early information was that the bombs had exploded inside the minibuses.

A government source said the possibility of suicide bombings had not been ruled out.

Bikfaya is the home town of former President Amin Gemayel, whose son Pierre was assassinated by gunmen in November.

Pierre Gemayel was industry minister in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government, which has been locked for months in a power struggle with the Hezbollah-led opposition.

The bombings were the first since Gemayel's killing, which was one of a string of actual or attempted political assassinations since Hariri's slaying on February 14, 2005.

Many Lebanese accused Syria of masterminding Hariri's killing and the subsequent attacks. Damascus has denied any role. A UN inquiry has yet to complete its investigation.

''This is a terrorist act of a new kind aimed at foiling the second anniversary of the assassination of martyr Hariri,'' anti-Syrian parliamentarian Samir Franjieh said.

Reuters