At Least four Killed in Beirut Blast

Source: Alalam.ir, 15-1-2008
BEIRUT--Four people were killed and 16 others injured in a car bomb blast that local television said targeted a US embassy car on a seafront road in a northern suburb of Beirut on Tuesday.
One of those injured was reportedly a US national.
"There was a blast inside a car between the Dawra and Qarantina area and we have reports of injuries," a security official, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
Local television said four persons were killed in the blast along a seafront road, and television pictures showed smoke billowing into the skies over the capital.
The cause was not immediately known.
Lebanon has been rocked by a string of bombings, most of which have targeted prominent politicians.
Tuesday's blast came amidst a deep political crisis in Lebanon with rival parties deadlocked over efforts to find a replacement for former head of state Emile Lahoud who stood down in November.
Lebanon was set on January 21 to hold a 12th parliamentary session aimed at electing a president after numerous delays despite intense international efforts for rival parties to agree on an Arab League compromise.
In the latest attack on December 12, General Francois El Hajj -- who was tipped to replace army chief General Michel Sleiman if he was elected president -- was killed in a car bomb blast along with three others.