Wednesday, February 28, 2007BEIRUT: Lebanese security forces dismantled an explosive device made of dynamite in the eastern Beirut neighborhood of Mkalles on Tuesday, security sources said. The charge, made up of seven sticks of dynamite attached to a timing device and a detonator, was not equipped with a nine-volt battery required to set it off, security sources said.

After the Internal Security Forces (ISF) were notified of the explosive, the chief of the ISF’s Mount Lebanon sector, Brigadier Bahij Watfa, arrived in Mkalles accompanied by explosives experts.

"Had the battery been installed, the charge would have exploded in exactly five minutes," a security source said on condition of anonymity.

The explosive charge was discovered on the first floor of a residential building in the densely populated neighborhood. The building houses the Namibian Consulate and is next to the Private Club, a popular upscale gym.