At least 53 people have been injured in a car bomb in Beirut as tensions spiral in Lebanon over Syria.
A car bomb has rocked south Beirut, injuring at least 53 people in the most serious incident in the stronghold of Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement since the start of the Syrian conflict.
The blast comes amid spiralling tension in Lebanon over the civil war raging in Syria, where Hezbollah fighters have joined President Bashar al-Assad's forces in facing down a revolt by mainly Sunni rebels.
"A car bomb exploded near a commercial cooperative called the Islamic Cooperation Centre in Bir al-Abed," which lies in the heart of Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold, the military source said.
Lebanon's Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told AFP 53 people were wounded, adding that 12 remained in hospital and two had undergone surgery.
The densely populated Bir al-Abed neighbourhood is home mainly to Shi'ite Muslims.
Several broadcasters, among them Hezbollah's Al-Manar, showed firefighters battling several blazes while large clouds of black smoke billowed into the sky.
Lebanese politicians from across the spectrum quickly condemned the blast, including President Michel Sleiman who called for an end "to such tactics... and respect for the security of all Lebanese citizens."
Former prime minister and opposition leader Saad Hariri, much of whose Sunni constituency in Lebanon backs the Syrian uprising and has been angered by Hezbollah's intervention, warned that the country must "avoid sliding into wars that will only mean more division for Lebanon."
Officially neutral in Syria's conflict, Lebanon is deeply divided into pro- and anti-Assad camps.
Hezbollah and its allies back Assad, who adheres to the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the Sunni-led opposition supports rebels seeking his ouster.
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