Bomb defused at American University of Beirut

A small bomb at the American University of Beirut was defused by police today.

An explosives expert defused the TNT which was found in a bag near a lift in the Issam Fares Hall, a building off the main campus, said a Lebanese security official.

The bomb was wired to a detonator and ready to explode. It was taken to a police barracks for investigation.

Acting president of the university, Maroun Kisirwani, said a janitor found the bomb in a paper bag at 7.30am Irish time. Police were called, and a member of the Internal Security Forces defused the bomb.

Lebanon has suffered a series of bomb attacks during the past two years. The biggest was the suicide truck bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 other people in February 2005.

Last month, bombs on two buses on a mountain road outside Beirut killed three passengers, and police defused an explosive device found in an abandoned apartment on the east side of the capital.

The explosions and attempted bombings are believed to be related to long-running political quarrels over Lebanon’s relations with its neighbour, Syria, and the role of Hezbollah, the only faction that has not disarmed since the 1975-90 civil war.

The Hezbollah-led opposition is currently waging a campaign of demonstrations to bring down the government of the Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.