BEIRUT (AFP) – Two people were killed when a bomb ripped through a shopping center in a Christian area north of Beirut, the second explosion since the assassination last month of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri plunged Lebanon into political turmoil. Police confirmed that the blast, which occurred near the port of Jounieh 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Beirut was caused by an explosive device. The dead were two foreigners, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, while three were wounded, police said Wednesday. The blast followed an explosion in another Christian district early Saturday, which injured 11 people, and seemed certain to heighten fears of a resurgence in the sectarian violence that devastated Lebanon during its 1975-1990 civil war.

AP, BEIRUT, Lebanon – Buoyed by their success in forcing Syria to withdraw some troops, elements of the Lebanese opposition have called for the return of two Christian leaders who played a major role in the country’s bloody civil war.Nematallah Abi Nasr, a Christian legislator, said Monday that he and some colleagues were working to secure the release from prison of Samir Geagea, who led the powerful Lebanese Forces militia during the 1975-90 war, and the return from exile in France of Gen. Michel Aoun, the former Lebanese army commander.Abi Nasr and five other opposition legislators – including a Sunni Muslim, a Shiite Muslim and a Druse – have signed a petition for a bill that would allow Geagea to receive amnesty.

By Lin Noueihed BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s pro-Syrian prime minister said on Monday he was determined to forge a national unity government, even though anti-Syrian opposition leaders have refused to join any lineup before general elections.  Political divisions deepened over the weekend when the opposition dismissed Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud’s call for talks after a bomb wounded 11 people in a Beirut suburb, raising fresh fears of a return to Lebanon’s violent past. Opposition leaders instead urged Prime Minister Omar Karami, who resigned last month but was reappointed by parliament to form a new government, to make do without them and quickly pick a cabinet to lead Lebanon to elections due in May. he polls may have to be postponed if the political stalemate persists, but Karami stuck to his guns.

BEIRUT (AFP) – Bahia Hariri, sister of slain former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, is increasingly seen as his possible political heiress, charged with carrying on a mission that has marked politics here for the past 15 years. Within hours Saturday of an explosion in a Christian neighborhood that injured 11 people, she was at the site of the blast to reassure residents, telling them not to afraid. “They (the perpetrators) won’t succeed in terrorizing us,” she declared. With mourning for her brother, killed in a bomb blast February 14, behind her, Bahia Hariri — a deputy from the southern city of Sidon — has also become more prominent in her pronouncements backing the Lebanese opposition.

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR,  BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 19 – On an unseasonably mild day last August, a small group of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s closest political allies could tell from his flushed face and subdued manner that something awful had happened in the Syrian capital of Damascus, where he had been summoned to a meeting with President Bashar al-Assad. The four men, all Lebanese Parliament members, recalled waiting for him at the Beirut mansion of the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, in the so-called garden, basically a carport paved with concrete bricks, plus one short orange tree in a faux terra cotta tub. Mr. Hariri – wearing an expensive blue suit and a white shirt, his tie loosened – lumbered over mutely and flung himself onto one of a dozen white plastic chairs, his head lolling back and his arms dangling over the edges.

By Lin Noueihed , BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s anti-Syrian opposition dismissed the president’s call for talks on Saturday, deepening political divisions hours after a bomb raised fresh fears of a return to the country’s violent past.  Investigators sifted through the rubble left by the blast, which wounded 11 people and gutted the ground and first floors of a residential block in a Christian suburb of eastern Beirut. The bomb had been left in or under a car belonging to a Lebanese-Armenian man who lived in the building, but it was not clear why, Lebanese security sources said.

By JOSEPH PANOSSIAN, Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon – Lebanon’s pro-Syrian president said Saturday that he will not attend an Arab summit because of political turmoil in his country as investigators searched for clues to a car bomb that rocked a largely Christian neighborhood in Beirut, injuring nine people. President Emile Lahoud did not elaborate on his decision not to participate in Monday’s summit in Algeria, but it came as Syria withdraws troops from Lebanon after facing heavy pressure from the United States and fellow Arab countries to end a three decade presence. The attack devastated an eight-story apartment building in the largely Christian New Jdeideh neighborhood shortly after midnight on Saturday and sent panicked residents in their pajamas into the street.

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon – With Lebanese politicians deadlocked over the formation of a new government as Syria withdraws its forces after 29 years, a car bomb rocked a largely Christian neighborhood in north Beirut early Saturday, injuring seven people and causing extensive damage. The target of the attack wasn’t immediately clear but it added to the political turmoil after the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and the subsequent withdrawal of Syrian troops to east Lebanon and Syria. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have been participating in demonstrations for and against Syria since Hariri was killed. Anti-Syrian opposition demonstrations have included large numbers of Maronite Christians.

PARIS (AFP) – Russia joined the leaders of France, Germany and Spain in an appeal for a rapid and “complete pullout” of all Syrian troops and intelligence forces from Lebanon, a joint declaration said.  In their statement the presidents of France and Russia, Jacques Chirac and Vladimir Putin , as well as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero committed themselves to the implementation of UN resolution 1559 which calls for the full withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. The resolution was adopted in September last year. Putin’s agreement was important because of Moscow’s long-standing links with Damascus.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 18 – Political leaders trying to form a new government in the wake of the past month’s upheavals said today that negotiations had stalled, raising the possibility that nationwide elections scheduled for this spring might have to be postponed. Allies of the pro-Syrian government and the opposition said the two sides disagreed on a number of important issues, including a demand by opposition leaders for an internationally supervised investigation into the murder of Rafik Hariri, who was killed by a car bomb Feb. 14.Opposition leaders, who have been galvanized by a huge outpouring of public support since Mr. Hariri’s death, said they were still waiting for a response to a list of demands they presented two days ago to the caretaker government of Omar Karami. Mr. Karami, leader of the pro-Syrian government, resigned under pressure earlier this month but was asked to return by the Parliament.