At least four people were wounded on Friday night in an explosion in Bermana town in the eastern mountain of Beirut, local private LBC television reported. More than ten cars were destroyed in the blast, which caused heavy material damage.

Witnesses said the blast occurred at 9:45 PM (18:45 GMT) at the Rizk commercial center in a Christian village of Bermana, 20 kilometers east of Beirut.

Media reports said that the explosion started a fire, shattered glass in several nearby buildings, blew out shutters of stores, smashed cars and knocked down a light pole.

A bomb was placed in the parking lot of the center, which is on the main stretch of the resort town in the pinewooded mountains, added the reports.

Bermana is a popular destination for Gulf Arab tourists who come for holiday. The Rizk commercial center contains a branch of the Mediterranean Bank, which belongs to the family of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri who was killed in a car bomb attack on Feb.14.

Lebanon has plunged into a political turbulence since the assassination of Hariri, which the opposition has said the Syria-backed authorities should be responsible for.

The Friday night blast is the fourth bomb attack in Christian areas in two weeks.

More than 10 people were injured last Saturday when a car bomb explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut, which came after two other bomb attacks in Lebanon in earlier days, during which two people were killed and more than 10 injured.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2005)