Car Bomb in Beirut Kills 20, Wounds 78 : Bid to Frighten Christians Into Ceding Power to Muslims Seen

NICOSIA, Cyprus â€”  A massive car bomb exploded in the Christian sector of Beirut on Monday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 78 others.

Reports from the Lebanese capital said the car exploded at mid-morning in the populous district of Ashrafiyeh, which is near the so-called “green line� dividing the Christian eastern portion of the capital from the predominantly Muslim west side.

The auto contained what police estimated to be 225 pounds of explosives, and the blast reduced cars on the street to piles of scrap and ripped the fronts off eight apartment buildings.

The blue Volvo containing the explosives was parked about 300 yards from a branch office of the Falangist Party, the largest political group in the Christian community. The party was founded by the late father of Lebanese President Amin Gemayel.

Worst Since April

The bombing was the most lethal in Lebanon since April, when 69 people were killed and 111 wounded in a car bombing in the northern port of Tripoli, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim.

No group claimed responsibility for Monday’s bombing, but in the past Syrian intelligence officers were accused by Christian leaders of conducting a campaign of bombings in the Christian sector.

The apparent goal of the explosions was to create enough fear among the Christians, who constitute half of Lebanon’s population, that they will agree to accept a new political compromise on the formation of a government for the country.

Syria has sought to broker a new political formula to end Lebanon’s 14 years of civil war. The projected compromise will involve the Christians ceding greater power to the Muslims, who were in the minority when the current system was established in the 1940s, but who now form a majority.

The bombing came as Syrian troops continued their deployment in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where they began taking up positions Friday to end more than two weeks of clashes between a pro-Iranian militia and a group supported by Syria.

No casualties were reported over the weekend, and the cease-fire was said to be holding.

Syria has said that the several hundred troops it deployed in the suburbs to end the clashes between the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, or Party of God, and the Amal militia, will be withdrawn in a few days to eight checkpoints around the suburbs. The announcement was seen as a concession to Hezbollah, which had opposed Syrian entry into the area.

Syria had hoped to impose an overall security plan on so-called greater Beirut, simultaneously taking over the predominantly Shia Muslim slums while the Lebanese army removed the main Christian militia called the Lebanese Forces from areas near the Muslim sector. But the Christians have balked at the Syrian plan.

Syria Promoting Candidate

The Syrians, along with the United States, have been promoting Gen. Michel Aoun, a Christian commander of the Lebanese army, as their candidate for presidential elections to be held in September.

Syrian Information Minister Mohammed Salman told a news conference in Damascus on Saturday that the elections will not be allowed to proceed unless all the parties agree on political reforms.

It was the boldest indication so far that Syria intends to intervene directly in the Lebanese political crisis in order to force a result more to its liking.