At least 12 people were hurt when a bomb exploded in the Lebanese capital of Beirut last night, just hours after US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice visited the area.
Hundreds of people on the popular Monot Street - a narrow thoroughfare street packed with restaurants and bars - ran for the lives after the car bomb blast. Three cars were damaged by the 50-pound bomb in Ashrafiya, a largely Christian neighborhood of Beirut.
Lebanon has seen a string of bomb assassinations of politicians and other figures in recent months almost all opponents of Syria. But last night's blast did not appear to have a particular target.
Instead, the attack was a "message" to the new government, announced this week and dominated by anti-Syrian ministers, said Tourism Minister Joseph Sarkis. He said the blast was intended to to shake security and scare off the thousands of tourists, mainly from oil-rich Gulf countries, who spend summer holidays in Lebanon.
"It is a message against the government, against national reconciliation and national unity," Mr Sarkis told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel.
Ms Rice made a surprise visit yesterday to give her support to a government trying to break the shackles of , Syria's long domination of Lebanese administration and security.
She left the country several hours before the blast, but earlier in the day visited the grave of slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri about 600 yards from the site of the explosion.
Mr Hariri's slaying, in a massive explosion that killed 20 other people on February 14th, sparked widespread protests against Syria, which many people blamed for the assassination.
Since then, two other anti-Syrian politicians have been killed by bombs placed in their cars, and a bomb wounded the outgoing defence minister, a supporter of Syria.
Other bombings in March and June targeted shopping and commercial areas in Christian areas, killing three people and injuring more than 35.
Ms Rice is in West Bank city of Ramallah today to press the Palestinians to take further steps to rein in the violent groups.
With signs that attempts to secure peace in the region are unravelling despite the mid-August deadline set for a large-scale dismantling of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Ms Rice's trip was hastily arranged.
She is due to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, who is responsible for the Palestinian security forces, as the post-Arafat administration seeks to rein in paramilitary groups such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
Palestinian security forces and gunmen loosely affiliated with Mr Abbas' ruling Fatah Party clashed twice in recent days with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The clashes came as Israel massed thousands of troops on the Gaza border, threatening to invade unless the Palestinians stopped militants from firing rockets and mortars at Jewish settlements and nearby Israeli towns.