At least three people were killed and 20 wounded in a twin bombing Tuesday morning that ripped moments apart through two minibuses near a Lebanese Christian mountain town northeast of Beirut.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who heads an anti-Syria cabinet, said that the attacks were intended to destabilize the country.

The explosions occurred a day before the second anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, another member of the anti-Syria camp.

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The blasts occurred as the vehicles passed through the town of Ein Alaq, near Bikfaya, the ancestral home of former president Amin Gemayel. The Christian former president's son Pierre, a cabinet minister in Siniora's government, was assassinated in November.

Amin Gemayel, a supporter of Siniora, told the Voice of Lebanon radio station Tuesday that "alien hands" were behind the explosions. "Lebanese do not kill Lebanese," he said.

The leader of Lebanon's Druze minority, Walid Jumblatt, accused Syria of having a hand in the attacks.

The Qatari-based satellite channel Al Jazeera quoted witnesses as saying that the buses were "loaded with passengers" when the blasts struck during rush hour.

Initial reports put the number of dead at 12. Officials said the confusion over the death toll was caused because the dead and wounded had been taken to various hospitals.

Lebanese Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa said early information showed that the bombs had exploded inside the vehicles. A government source said the possibility of suicide bombings had not been ruled out.

Rescue personnel evacuated the wounded as security forces rushed to the scene of the attack. Hospitals in the area issued appeals for blood donations.

In the heavy rain, the buses lay some 30 meters apart, the first with its roof twisted and its back side shattered completely, an indication the explosive had been placed there.

Television footage showed several destroyed vehicles, including a minibus with its roof torn off, on the mountain road. Pools of blood lay near one vehicle.

Troops and police, using sniffer dogs quickly sealed off the area and blocked the highway, a usually busy road linking Christian towns in the mountains with the capital.

The driver of the bus hit in the first blast was killed. A 15-year-old was also reported among the dead.

The second driver, a member of the Gemayel family, survived with injuries after he got out of his van following the first explosion, and walked toward the stricken bus.

The head of the Lebanese Red Cross, Georges Kettani, told Al Jazeera that many of the wounded had "serious injuries."

Katina Shibli was driving on the road ahead of the first bus when she heard the blast.

"We stopped immediately, I rushed to help," she said. "The traffic backed up quickly, when within 10 minutes, the other explosion happened."

Genevieve Hayek, the owner of a roadside snack bar 15 meters from the bombing scene, said that barely had help arrived when the second explosion occurred.

"We ran away when the second explosion occurred for fear of more," she said. "May God's wrath fall on all of them who did this, what is the fault of the people just going to work?"

Pro-government groups had planned a mass memorial for Hariri in Beirut's Martyrs Square on Wednesday, despite fears of friction with opposition supporters camped out nearby since December 1, as part of a campaign to topple the anti-Syrian cabinet.

Sources in the Lebanese government said they believed the attack was timed to deter people from attending protests to mark the anniversary of Hariri's murder.

"This is a terrorist act of a new kind aimed at foiling the second anniversary of the assassination of martyr Hariri," anti-Syrian parliamentarian Samir Franjieh said.

Jumblatt said the explosions were meant to scare people away from the rally.

"It's to terrorize people who are willing to come to mark the second anniversary of Hariri's death," Jumblatt told
Al Jazeera.

The bombings were the first since Pierre Gemayel's killing, one of a string of actual or attempted political assassinations that began with Hariri's murder.

Many Lebanese have accused Syria of masterminding Hariri's killing and the subsequent attacks. Damascus has denied any role. A United Nations inquiry into the assassination has yet to complete its investigation.

Syria was forced to withdraw troops from Lebanon after Hariri's assassination. It had dominated Lebanon for decades, but the killing triggered protests and international pressure, led by the United States and France, and forced out Syrian forces.

A leader of Gemayel's Phalangist Party, Karim Pakradouni, said Tuesday it was time for Lebanese to unite.

"The curse cast on Lebanon has not yet been lifted. Political messages in the world are relayed verbally or in writing. In Lebanon, they are written in blood," he said.

Chriac 'horrified'
France on Tuesday condemned the attacks, with President Jacques Chirac expressing his "horror" and "consternation."

"The revolting attacks that occurred this morning... inspire horror and consternation," Chirac wrote in a letter to Siniora.

"In striking on the eve of the commemoration that took the life of Rafik Hariri and his companions, it is all of Lebanon that the killers want to plunge again into violence."

Earlier Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy described the bomb attacks as "heinous and cowardly."

"Faced with this new attempt to destabilize Lebanon, it is essential that the Lebanese close ranks so as not to fall into the trap that is laid for them," Douste-Blazy said.

European Union president Germany sharply condemned the attacks, and called upon all sides in Lebanon to take steps to avoid an escalation of violence.

"The Presidency of the European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms the targeted attacks on two buses in Lebanon which today claimed several lives and left many injured," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"On the eve of the second anniversary of the assassination of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri, the Presidency of the European Union calls upon all sides in Lebanon to take a determined stand against violence and to do everything they can to prevent the situation from escalating," it added.