BEIRUT, Jan 15: Three people were killed in a bomb blast that targeted a US embassy car in a northern suburb of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday.

The attack coincided with a Middle East tour by US President George W. Bush, who was in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday before heading to Egypt.

“The bomb was detonated as the US car was driving by along with another vehicle carrying civilians between the Dawra and Qarantina areas,” a senior Lebanese security official said.

He said there were no American casualties but that three civilians died in the other vehicle.

Lebanese media said one American inside the US car was injured.

Local television showed smoke billowing into the skies over the capital, which has been hit by a string of bombings amid a deep and long-running political crisis.

US embassy officials would not confirm or deny the report.

“We haven’t ruled out that a US embassy car was targeted, we have no information at this point,” US embassy spokeswoman Cherie Lenzen said.

Another embassy official said that US embassy cars often travel the seafront road where the blast took place.

Tuesday’s blast came amidst a deep political crisis in Lebanon with the Western-backed ruling majority and the Syrian-backed opposition deadlocked over efforts to find a successor for Emile Lahoud who stood down in November.—AFP