Lebanon bus blasts kill at least three, wound 20
By Yara Bayoumy BEIRUT (Reuters) - Bombs exploded on two buses in a Christian area of Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least three people and wounding 20, police said, on the eve of the second anniversary of the killing of ex-Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Security sources had earlier put the death toll at 11. A police spokesman said the report of three deaths was preliminary and the toll could rise.
Government sources said most of the casualties were on public buses carrying people to work in Beirut from the area around Bikfaya, home town of former President Amin Gemayel, whose son was assassinated by gunmen in November. 
The blasts wrecked the buses and other vehicles on a mountain road about 24 km northeast of Beirut. Pools of blood lay near a minibus with its roof torn off.
Body parts were strewn near the buses, which were about 50 metres (yards) apart. When the first bomb exploded, the driver of the second bus stopped and got out. His own bus then exploded, security sources said.
Tension has been running high in Lebanon since street clashes last month between supporters and opponents of the Western-backed government in which nine people were killed.
Pro-government groups had planned a mass memorial in Beirut's Martyrs Square on Wednesday to mark Hariri's assassination, despite fears of friction with opposition supporters camped out nearby since Dec. 1 as part of a campaign to topple the anti-Syrian government.
CALL FOR UNITY
The blasts took place amid signs that a deal was in the works to end the political crisis.
"Every time the possibility of practical solutions looms on the horizon between the Lebanese factions to strengthen their unity, the enemies of Lebanon rush to commit a new crime against innocents," pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud said.
Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamadeh, an anti-Syrian politician who escaped an assassination bid in 2004, also said the attack should not hamper efforts to end the crisis.
"On the contrary, it should boost attempts and induce everyone to go into dialogue in a more determined manner," he told Reuters.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy issued a statement condemning the "hateful and cowardly" attack while calling for calm.
Local media said the bombs were on the buses and weighed 2-3 kg each.
The attacks were the first since the assassination of Gemayel, industry minister in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government, which has been locked for months in a power struggle with the Hezbollah-led opposition.
Lebanon has witnessed 15 attacks on politicians, journalists and public places since Hariri's slaying on Feb. 14, 2005. Many Lebanese blame the attacks on Syria, which denies any role in them. A U.N. inquiry has yet to complete its investigation.
A leader of Gemayel's Phalangist Party, Karim Pakradouni, said 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.
(Additional reporting by Beirut and Paris bureaux)
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