Bombing overshadows Easter in Beirut

BEIRUT - A bombing in a Christian suburb of east Beirut overshadowed Easter celebrations on Sunday and raised fresh fears of a slide back into Lebanon's violent past.

But in a sign of efforts to ease tensions, Lebanon's most prominent anti-Syrian opposition figure held talks with the leader of the Syrian-backed Hizbollah.

It was their first meeting since the February 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, which plunged Lebanon into political crisis, exposing deep divisions and prompting vast anti-Syrian rallies and similarly large protests led by Hizbollah.

In east Beirut, Lebanese security forces picked through rubble and twisted metal left by Saturday's blast, the third in eight days in the Christian heartland, where resentment against Syria runs high.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the United States both condemned the attack, which wounded eight people.

Patriarch Nasrallah Butrous Sfeir, spiritual leader of Lebanon's Maronite Christians and a long-time critic of Syria's grip on Lebanon, told worshippers at Easter mass the Lebanese must now choose between freedom and violence.

"The incidents ... put (people) at a crossroads: either independence, sovereignty and freedom -- and that is what most Lebanese want -- or turmoil and difficulties," Sfeir said.

Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud called for unity after the bombing.

"We must be united. This is what will save the nation," he told LBC Television, after meeting Sfeir.

Annan said he was especially saddened that the attack was carried out just as many of the nation's Christians were preparing to attend Easter mass.

"He calls upon the Government of Lebanon to act rapidly to prevent the security situation from deteriorating," his spokesman said in a statement.

The United States urged Lebanon to push ahead with elections due in May but threatened with delay if a crisis over the formation of a new government continues.

"The people of Lebanon are confident in their ability to proceed in a manner that tells those responsible they will not be frightened," US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield said after a lunchtime meeting with anti-Syrian opposition leader Walid Jumblatt.

"The points that were discussed are ones that I think are very clear to everyone, the desire to see a government formed which is capable of leading the Lebanese people forward to elections as scheduled. "

The United States, with France, has led calls for the withdrawal of Syrian forces and for the disarmament of Hizbollah, which Washington brands a "terrorist" group.

Under heavy international pressure, Syria has already withdrawn over a third of its 14,000 troops in Lebanon since Hariri's death. On Sunday, it abandoned its last air defence positions in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.

Hizbollah is the only political group openly to keep a militia after the 1975-1990 civil war.

But Jumblatt said after his meeting with Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah that the group should keep its weapons until Israel withdrew from a disputed border area.

"When our ambitions are met, in agreement with the resistance, over Shebaa Farms, then we will talk about arms, " Jumblatt said referring to a disputed strip on the border between Lebanon, Israel and Syria's Israeli-occupied land.

Painful memories of Lebanon's war years have been revived by the recent bombings. Many of those in the areas hit blame Syria, saying it wanted to show Lebanon was slipping into chaos as Syrian troops were being pulled out.

"The enemies of Lebanon did this, those who do not want the independence of Lebanon," said Ohaness Melketessian, checking on his gutted carpentry shop. "We will see more before it eases. "

But many Beirut Christians said they did not believe the country would be sucked back into another sectarian conflict, although they said more insecurity was likely.

On Tuesday, a blast killed three in a Christian town north of Beirut, days after another injured 11 in Christian east Beirut.

In the latest explosion, security sources said 25kg of high explosives had been planted between a Buick car and a car repair shop in the Sad al-Boushrieh industrial zone.

- REUTERS