Beirut rocket attacks

Sunday's twin rockets struck in the suburbs of southern Beirut, where the Hezbollah Shiite movement has a strong presence. One rocket struck an automobile show, while the other hit a building. Cars at the auto show and the side of the building were damaged, and at least four people were injured by the blasts.

It is the first such attack on the area controlled by Hezbollah, which only a day before explicitly pledged its support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his army.

"I say to all the honorable people," said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday, "to the mujahedeen, to the heroes: I have always promised you a victory and now I pledge to you a new one."

Nasrallah called Syria the "rear guard of the resistance," referring to Hezbollah's on-going conflict with Israel, adding the "resistance cannot stay with its arms folded when its rear guard is exposed."

A security source quoted by the AFP news agency said he believed Sunday's attacks near Beirut were "probably related to the conflict in Syria." However, no one has claimed responsibility for the rocket blasts.

Not everyone in Lebanon supports al-Assad's regime, however. Sunni Muslims living in northern Lebanon support the Syrian rebels in their fight against al-Assad, which has led to clashes between groups supporting the al-Assad regime and groups supporting the Syrian rebels in Lebanon.

Fighting between the two sides in Lebanon's second city of Tripoli has claimed at least 25 lives in the past week.

mz/ccp (Reuters, AP, AFP)