2 dead, 3 injured in Beirut explosion

"The two dead are an Indian and a Pakistani, and the three injured are two Sri-lankans and one Lebanese," private television station LBCI said, quoting a source from the security services.

It had earlier reported that three people had died in the explosion, which took place in a mainly Christian area near Lebanon's port of Jounie, 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Beirut.

Police said that a "violent explosion" had taken place at 1:30 am Wednesday (2330 GMT Tuesday), confirming only that one woman had died. The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, it said.

The explosion comes days after an overnight bomb blast late last Friday wounded 11 people here, increasing public unease after the February 14 assassination of former prime minister Hariri.

That incident was followed by several false bomb alerts.

The explosions come at a time of political friction in Lebanon between the pro-Syrian administration and the country's anti-Syrian opposition, which intensified after the assassination.

The explosion took place in a large shopping centre in Kaslik, where a number of shops, a night club and amusement hall can be found.

The force of the blast ripped out the shopping center, causing damage in a radius of several hundred metres, forcing false ceilings to collapse, pillars to warp and blowing out windows.

The television channel said the device which caused the explosion was placed in one of the shopping centre's stairwells.

Television showed the body of one victim lying under a blanket.

An anti-Syrian opposition deputy, Fares Boueiz, said the explosion was an attack, aimed at further heightening unrest.

The weekend blast was the first serious incident since popular Hariri and 18 other people were killed in a huge bombing, an attack that ignited public fury and stepped up the momentum for the clamour to get Syrian forces out of Lebanon.

The assassination has been blamed by the opposition on Syrian and Lebanese agents, a charge denied by authorities here and in Damascus.

"They want to destabilise the country...we must not fall into the trap," Boueiz told LBCI.