Lebanon blast injures Druze

The motive for the attack is still unclear

Three Lebanese Druze women, including the sister and niece of a member of parliament, have been injured in a suspected parcel bomb explosion.

The explosion took place at Aley about 20km east of Beirut.

Family members say it happened when the women opened a gift-wrapped package left on a doorstep.

Police are quoted as saying they do not suspect a political motive, but the Information Minister condemned the blast calling it an attack on Lebanon's stability.

Whatever the motives behind this attack, its target was Lebanon's stability

Ghazi Aridi, Information Minister

The French news agency, AFP, reported that the package contained a booby-trapped alarm clock disguised as a wedding present.

One of the women, Jihan Chehayeb, niece of a Druze member of parliament, Akram Chehayeb, was seriously injured in the face, neck and stomach.

Her mother, who is Mr Chehayeb's sister, and another woman were also taken to hospital.

Motive unknown

Mr Chehayeb is a close associate of the Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, and Aley is a stronghold of Mr Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party.

The French news agency AFP quoted a police source as saying he did not suspect a political motive.

But Information Minister Ghazi Aridi called the explosion "a letter bomb addressed to the whole of Lebanon", AFP reported.

He said: "Whatever the motives behind this attack, its target was Lebanon's stability."

Since the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in May last year, the country has split along roughly religious lines over the continued presence of tens of thousands of Syrian troops and Damascus's role as the main power broke in Lebanon.

Rafik Hariri: Defending Syria's presence

In September, Bishops of the Maronite community, the country's largest Christian community, called for a phased withdrawal of Syrian troops.

That prompted the government of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri to argue that Syrian presence was "legal, necessary and temporary".

In recent months Mr Jumblatt has turned from being a close ally of Syria to an outspoken critic Syria's continued role in Lebanon.

He has argued for a "rebalancing" of relations with Damascus, allowing for a continued presence provided Syria does not interfere in domestic policies.

On Sunday the Interior Ministry decided to ban rival public rallies by pro- and anti-Syrian groups planned for Wednesday.

Wednesday is also the anniversary of the start of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.