Beirut Blast Targets American Embassy Vehicle

Beirut continues to be a locus for assassinations that are targeting pro-American, pro-Western political notables.

...suspicion would fall on al Qaeda or Hezbollah.

He said the attack would have been well planned, with spotters tipping the killer off when the vehicle left the embassy and when it approached the blast area.In the past three years, there has been a string of explosions in Lebanon targeting mainly anti-Syrian politicians and journalists.

The last car bombing on December 12 in the Baabda suburb killed Lebanese army Major General Francois Hajj and two other people.

This might be timed to coincide with Prsident Bush's visit to the Middle East, as was perhaps the Iranian provocation with the cigarette boats last week. The enemies of a genuine accord between Israelis and Palestinians may visit more violence on western targets in their efforts to destabilize the region.

In that frame of mind, even Hamas would fall into the list of suspects for the latest Beirut blast.