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Lebanese soldiers and Red Cross workers standing near charred cars at the site of explosion in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday. (Reuters) Last update - 21:54 15/01/2008 At least three killed in Beirut blast targeting U.S. Embassy car By The Associated Press Tags: UN, U.S. Embassy, Lebanon  An explosion targeted a United States Embassy vehicle Tuesday in northern Beirut, killing at least three Lebanese and injuring an American bystander and a local embassy employee, U.S. and Lebanese officials said. The blast, which damaged the armored SUV and several other vehicles, took place just ahead of a farewell reception for the American ambassador at a h Advertisement otel in central Beirut. No Americans were in the car, which was carrying two Lebanese employees of the embassy, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. There were conflicting accounts of the death toll, with the State Department, from information provided by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, saying four people had been killed and Lebanese authorities saying that only three had died. The bombing - which came as U.S. President George W. Bush toured the Mideast - was the first attack on U.S. diplomatic interests in Lebanon since the 1980s, when the country saw some of the deadliest terror attacks against Americans in U.S. history. A 1983 truck bombing killed 241 American service members at the U.S. Marine barracks at Beirut airport. The same year, a suicide bomber hit the U.S. Embassy there, killing at least 17 Americans, including top CIA officials. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called an emergency cabinet meeting after Tuesday's blast. The country has seen a string of bombings in the past three years targeting anti-Syrian figures, journalists and most recently, a top Lebanese army general. The powerful blast could be heard across the Lebanese capital, sending gray smoke billowing over a Mediterranean coastal highway in the predominantly Christian Dora-Karantina neighborhood. Two Lebanese employees of the embassy were in the vehicle, and the driver was lightly injured, McCormack said. He said four Beirut residents who do not work for the embassy were killed in the blast. But Lebanese Red Cross Iyad al-Munzer said three people were killed. The figure was corroborated by two senior Lebanese security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military rules. Five others were wounded, the officials said. Among them was an American citizen, Minnesota native Mathew Clason, who was at the nearby National Evangelical Church near where the explosion took place. "The windows blew in and I fell down - I was knocked out. I don't know exactly what happened," Clason, who had been in Lebanon for two weeks, told Associated Press Television News while sitting in the emergency room corridor of Jeitawi Hospital in Beirut. His head and right leg were bandaged. The U.S. Embassy immediately canceled a banquet for departing Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, scheduled for Tuesday evening at Beirut's seaside Phoenicia Hotel. A senior Lebanese police official said the blast was caused by a bomb placed between two garbage containers on the side of a narrow road adjacent to the main highway, which was detonated as the car passed. McCormack could not offer specifics about the blast or whether the vehicle had been targeted, but said it had been hit directly by the explosion itself. He said agents from the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security would be working with Lebanese authorities to investigate the blast and that the U.S. Embassy in Beirut was reviewing its security. "We are going to take a look at what implications, if any, there are for our security posture in Beirut," McCormack said. Beirut has had a long history of attacks against Americans since the turmoil of the 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990. In 1976, the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Francis E. Meloy Jr., and an aide, Robert O. Waring, were kidnapped and shot to death in Beirut. In 1984, William Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped and murdered by the Islamic Jihad. The U.S. withdrew all diplomats from Beirut in September 1989 and did not reopen its embassy until 1991. Before Tuesday's bombing, the last American killed in Lebanon was a missionary gunned down in 2002 at a Christian center where she worked as a nurse. At the time, Bonnie Penner, 31, was the first U.S. citizen killed in the country in more than a decade. Related articles: Two UN peacekeepers lightly wounded by roadside blast in Lebanon Bomb hits UN peacekeeping vehicle in southern Lebanon Bookmark to del.icio.us   And the winner is Haaretz's Gideon Levy wins prize for cultural dialogue. The Amona syndrome Gov't fears it will pay the public price of removing outposts.   1.   Mosad did it, who else would benefit? 17:15  |  Clickfool 15/01/08   2.   Mosad did it #1 17:31  |  Shlomo 15/01/08   3.   Syria did this 17:46  |  Amir 15/01/08   4.   The clickidiot did it 17:54  |  Iz Ray Leigh 15/01/08   5.   Islamofascists at work, as usual..........poor Lebanon 17:54  |  maurice 15/01/08   6.   Clickfool: "Mosad did it, who else would benefit?" YOU! 17:59  |  S 15/01/08   7.   What is the US even doing there? 18:00  |  Lebanon 15/01/08   8.   How democracy works in Arab countries 18:00  |  Yonatan 15/01/08   9.   clickFOOL 18:12  |  Marc 15/01/08   10.   Here Clickfool more options 18:17  |  Gil 15/01/08   11.   Clickfool 18:41  |  Mike 15/01/08   12.   Mossad Operation 19:00  |  Paul Wood 15/01/08   13.   Paul Wood! you really mean it don`t you? 19:19  |  Iz Ray Leigh 15/01/08   14.   this smell mossad 19:38  |  kaled 15/01/08   15.   Clickfool: "Mosad did it, who else would benefit?" YOU! 19:54  |  S 15/01/08   16.   Siniora Has No Balls Against Terror, 19:56  |  Joseph E . 15/01/08   17.   #12 Iz Ray Liegh 20:05  |  Paul Wood 15/01/08   18.   Mossad? 20:17  |  Frank 15/01/08   19.   I don`t think #1 is really Clickfool 20:29  |  Avi 15/01/08   20.   all fingers point to mossad 20:36  |  truth 15/01/08   21.   kaled 20:40  |  Avi 15/01/08   22.   Not syria, not mossad 20:47  |  Abou Ali 15/01/08   23.   Keep Mossad at home, 20:49  |  Dav 15/01/08   24.   Dead Lebanese Civilians 20:52  |  Gina 15/01/08   25.   Bonnie Penner`s murder 21:01  |  Gina 15/01/08   26.   for Avi #21 21:12  |  kaled 15/01/08   27.   #24 Gina 21:21  |  Paul Wood 15/01/08   28.   intelligence confusion 21:31  |  joseph casserta 15/01/08   29.   Best wishes to the wounded 21:33  |  KUTW 15/01/08   30.   G-d bless America 21:35  |  KUTW 15/01/08   31.   Paul Wood --- take your meds 21:45  |  Gina 15/01/08   32.   #7 - Your Right 21:49  |  Jimmie 15/01/08   33.   #10-Gil 22:09  |  Jimmie 15/01/08   34.   #18 - You really can`t wait? 22:16  |  Jimmie 15/01/08   35.   All these people blaming Mossad 22:31  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/01/08   36.   Repeat of the Lavon plot of the 1950s 22:54  |  Chanalau, Tova 15/01/08   37.   KUTW 22:54  |  Gina 15/01/08   38.   award must go to clickfool 23:03  |  K 15/01/08   39.   My condolences 23:09  |  KUTW 15/01/08   40.   Islamofacists seem to have a lot of allies in this forum 23:10  |  Gili 15/01/08   41.   #35 23:19  |  Moshe 15/01/08   42.   # 7 lebanon,you guys have proven you can`t do anything but fight 23:21  |  terrornator 15/01/08   43.   Jimmie 23:35  |  Frank 15/01/08   44.   #8 23:35  |  Moshe 15/01/08   45.   37. Gina 00:13  |  KUTW 16/01/08   46.   Anyone see the movie Kingdom? 01:57  |  Jon 16/01/08   47.   ATTACK ON GAZA AND BOMB IN LEBANON AT THE SAME DAY? 01:57  |  indrajaya 16/01/08   48.   #7 What US is doing there 03:23  |  American Woman 16/01/08   49.   Is it an act of terror or a cry from within? 21:17  |  PoorInnocents 16/01/08

Today Online 5 Gazans, including 3 civilians, killed as rockets pound Negev Responses: 413 Lieberman blasts Arab MKs, pulls party out of government Responses: 151 IDF troops kill Islamic Jihad's top West Bank commander Responses: 102 Hamas: End IDF raids or Shalit will become another Ron Arad Responses: 116 Amira Hass: Israelis don't get the extent of their domination over the Palestinians Responses: 113 Rosner's Domain Jewish leaders: "falsehood and innuendo used in mischaracterization of Obama" (WTR) Rosner's Mailbox: And what if Obama's a Muslim? With focus on Obama-Clinton race, veep chatter begins Olmert to American Jews: I want your voice on Jerusalem The case for bombing Iran (WTR) More Headlines 05:04 Top IDF source: If Hamas shows restraint, Israel will follow 02:36 Hamas: End Gaza raids or Shalit will become another Ron Arad 04:10 Study: Most Sderot kids exhibit post-traumatic stress symptoms 23:44 FM heads to Moscow for talks on Iran, Middle East peace talks 05:38 Widow: Archeologist kept tomb secret for fear of anti-Semitism 06:17 Ben-Eliezer: Yisrael Beiteinu exit lets us advance peace process 22:02 Amy Winehouse mulling album of 'cool' Hanukkah hits, producer says 00:50 Border police officer convicted of killing Palestinian in Jaffa 01:01 Ex-Minister Lieberman's daughter to be probed over suspected fraud 23:30 Hamas: Abbas calls Zahar over son's death, breaking boycott of group Previous Editions Select Day 16 jan 15 jan 14 jan 13 jan 11 jan 10 jan 09 jan 08 jan 07 jan 06 jan 04 jan 03 jan

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