10 killed in Beirut car bomb

A powerful car bomb killed anti-Syrian Lebanese politician Walid Eido and nine other people today in the sixth blast to strike…

A powerful car bomb killed anti-Syrian Lebanese politician Walid Eido and nine other people today in the sixth blast to strike the Beirut area in less than four weeks.

The bomb, concealed in a parked vehicle, detonated as Mr Eido's car drove by near the seafront in the Lebanese capital.

One of his sons was among the dead. At least 11 people were wounded.

Mr Eido (64) was a member of the majority anti-Syrian parliamentary bloc of Saad al-Hariri, which controls the government.

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He had been a vocal opponent of Syrian influence in Lebanon and an ally of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, who was assassinated by a suicide truck bomber in February 2005 on the same seafront just over a kilometre away.

The killing comes just three days after a UN Security Council resolution came into effect setting up an international tribunal to try suspects in Mr Hariri's assassination.

Saad al-Hariri and his political allies say Syria was behind the ex-prime minister's killing and later attacks. Damascus denies any involvement.

Mr Eido's death brought to seven the number of anti-Syrian figures killed in Lebanon since 2005.

The United States and France deplored the assassination.

"We stand with the people of Lebanon and Prime Minister [Fouad] Siniora's government as they battle extremists who are trying to derail Lebanon's march to peace, prosperity and a lasting democracy," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said his country stood by Lebanon "in the face of these repeated attempts at destabilisation".

The blast hit near an amusement park and a football club, setting a car ablaze and shattering windows at a nearby restaurant. It hurled the bodies of Mr Eido and his son across the road and into a football ground, witnesses said.