AP Photo BEI115
By HUSSEIN DAKROUB
Associated Press Writer
JOUNIEH, Lebanon (AP) - An explosion ravaged a shopping area and set off a fire near a Christian religious radio station in the port city of Jounieh north of Beirut late Friday, reportedly killing at least one person on the eve of the return from exile of Lebanon's most prominent anti-Syrian politician.
President Emile Lahoud condemned the attack and indicated a link between the explosion and political developments expected Saturday, likely referring to Parliament's possible discussion of a divisive election law and the return of Michel Aoun - the anti-Syrian politician, a Christian - from 14 years of exile in France.
The explosion broke a lull of several weeks following a spate of bombings of commercial areas in Christian areas and opposition strongholds. Bombings in March and early April killed three people and injured 24.
Witnesses in Jounieh, in the Christian heartland 10 miles north of Beirut, said the explosion occurred near the main square of the picturesque town. It took place near the office of Sawt al-Mahabba, a Christian religious radio station, and a Maronite Catholic church at the entrance to the old souk, or market.
Earlier in the day, the radio station had aired live broadcasts of a sit-in by relatives of Lebanese prisoners held in Syrian jails.
Police officials estimated the bomb at 44 pounds of explosives but could not immediately tell whether it was placed in, under or next to a car on the street.
The explosion, heard as far away as the hills overlooking the Mediterranean coast at about 9 p.m., shattered windows of apartments and cars in the old town, a mix of old stone buildings housing shops and residential apartments.
Flames shot up from the first floor of a building above the Cheaper Shop, a one-dollar store whose shutters were blown out by the force of the explosion. Fire engines rushed to the scene, maneuvering their way through the narrow alleys of the old town on the Bay of Jounieh.
Abdo Abou Jaoude, sound technician at the station, was trapped for three hours before rescuers were able to free him from under the stones and concrete blocks.
Father Fadi Thabet, the station's manager, said he was not sure whether the station was deliberately targeted. ``Nothing will scare us,'' he said.
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. reported that one Sri Lankan laborer died in the blast.
Police said 11 wounded people, three with serious injuries were taken to the hospital, and another 12 suffered minor injuries from cuts of flying glass. They could not confirm a fatality.
Opposition legislator Ghassan Moukheiber alleged that the joint Lebanese-Syrian security agencies were still in operation despite the removal of some of their pro-Syrian chiefs in recent days and the withdrawal of the Syrian army. ``We accused them before and we accuse them again. They have an interest in sabotage,'' he said.
Aoun, speaking from Paris by telephone, told LBC that no bomb will scare people from turning out Saturday to welcome him at a mass rally in Beirut. ``These things affect the cowards, not the Lebanese people,'' said the former army commander who fought and lost a war against Syrian forces in 1989-90.
Lebanon has been in political turmoil since a massive bombing in the capital on Feb. 14 killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the country's most famous politician, and 20 others.
Since then, mass anti-Syrian protests and intense international pressure forced Syria to withdraw its troops. Syrian forces completed their withdrawal April 26, and a new government was installed in Beirut last month.
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Associated Press writer Sam F. Ghattas contributed to this report from Beirut.
À la veille du retour d'exil du général Michel Aoun et de l'examen par le Parlement libanais de possibles modifications de la loi électorale dans la perspective des élections législatives qui doivent se tenir à partir du 29 mai, une bombe a explosé dans la soirée du vendredi 6 mai 2005 à Jounieh, ville à dominante chrétienne maronite située à environ 20 km au nord de Beyrouth.

La police a estimé que, en fonction des dégâts constatés, l'engin devait être composé d'environ 22 kg d'explosifs, sans toutefois pouvoir dire à ce moment-là si ces explosifs avaient été placés à l'intérieur d'un véhicule en stationnement ou simplement dissimulés sous le véhicule lui-même.

L'explosion qui, selon un bilan hospitalier aurait fait deux morts dont une touriste srilankaise et seize blessés, a partiellement détruit le souk (quartier commerçant), ainsi que l'église maronite Saint-Jean et causé de forts dégâts dans les locaux tout proches de la radio privée maronite ''Saout al Mahaba'' (« la Voix de la charité »).

Le lien avec le retour d'exil du général Aoun est tentant, non seulement à cause de la date, mais aussi à cause de l'existence, à proximité immédiate du lieu de l'explosion, d'une permanence du ''Courant national libre'' (CNL), formation des partisans de M. Aoun.

Un proche de M. Aoun a toutefois émis l'hypothèse que la vraie cible aurait tout aussi bien pu être les locaux de la radio maronite, celle-ci ayant justement diffusé, le jour même, une émission consacrée aux Libanais toujours emprisonnés en Syrie, ceci dans un contexte où le Premier ministre syrien Mohammad Naji Otri vient de déclarer récemment au quotidien espagnol ''El Pais'' que les Libanais détenus en Syrie seraient des « terroristes ».

Interrogé par la chaîne de télévision privée libanaise LBCI, le général Aoun a fait savoir qu'il n'entendait rien changer à son programme, et qu'était maintenue la manifestation prévue samedi sur la place des Martyrs à Beyrouth et au cours de laquelle il compte prendre la parole.

Note : dans une déclaration faite sous le couvert de l'anonymat par un officier de police à un reporter de l', le bilan pourrait être sensiblement différent : cette personne évoque un total de 22 blessés dont 5 toujours hospitalisés, et aucune personne tuée. On a parlé aussi, pour évoquer la personne qui aurait été tuée, soit d'une touriste srilankaise, soit d'un travailleur srilankais, tandis que les estimations sur le poids des explosifs sont allées de 20 à 25 kg en passant par 22...