Lebanon/Syria

Syria condemns Lebanon blast

Article published on the 2008-08-13 Latest update 2008-08-13 14:50 TU

The scene of the bombing.
(Photo : Reuters)

Syria has condemned a bomb attack in Tripoli that killed at least 14 people in the main northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. The blast came just hours before President Michel Sleiman's landmark visit to Syria. A further 40 were wounded in the explosion which struck a busy shopping street in the city during morning rush hour.

"Syria strongly denounces the criminal act perpetrated this morning in Tripoli that killed many innocent civilians," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Syria expresses its regrets and condolences to the families of the victims and affirms its sympathy and solidarity with brother Lebanon in the face of all those who are manipulating its security and stability," it said.

The bomb was placed in front of a garage door close to a bus stop in the Masarif Street commercial district and exploded near a bus carrying Lebanese soldiers. A child, polishing shoes at the time of the blast was among the dead, a security official said.

Before his departure to Syria, recently elected Lebanese President Michel Sleiman condemned what he called a "terrorist crime."

"The army and security forces will not be terrorised by attacks and crimes that target it and civil society, and the history of the army attests to that," Sleiman said in a statement released by his office.

"The timing [of the bombing] is definitely suspicious," said Bassel Salloukh, a political scientist at the Lebanese-American University in Beirut. "The area has definitely been boiling for a while but presently it is too early to suggest anything," he added.

The bombing came a day after Lebanon's new national unity government won a vote of confidence, after a debate in which the ruling majority insisted that the Shia-Muslim-based Hezbollah group disarm.

The vote will allow the 30-member cabinet, formed by Prime Minister Fuad Siniora last month, to finally start work. It is the first government to be formed after the crisis between rival factions that descended into violence that killed 65 people in May.

Tripoli has been rocked by deadly violence between anti-Syrian supporters of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and his Syrian-backed rivals.