Small bombs exploded outside three American fast-food
restaurants early Tuesday, causing damage but no casualties,
police said.
The
first bomb, 1.1 pounds of TNT, exploded at 4:30 a.m.
and damaged the metal stairway leading to a Pizza
Hut restaurant in Jounieh, a coastal town about 13
miles north of Beirut. Thirty minutes later a second
bomb, of similar size, exploded at Winners restaurant
in Jounieh, police officers said on condition of anonymity.
The blast wrecked the restaurant's entrance.
In
Tripoli, a third bomb exploded at the entrance of
Pizza Hut at 4.30 a.m., blowing out windows and damaging
tables and chairs, police said.
The
three restaurants were closed at the time.
Police
declined to speculate on the motives for the explosions.
However, in the past American properties have been
targeted in revenge for U.S. support for Israel in
the conflict with Palestinians.
Pizza
Hut's director in Lebanon, Imad Sabbagh, told reporters
in Tripoli on Tuesday that the company might close
its restaurants in Lebanon because the Interior Ministry
had failed to provide them with protection.
One
of the owners of Winners, Antoine Fadel, said he believed
the restaurant was targeted because it carried an
American name.
There
have been a string of low-level attacks on American
fast-food restaurants in Lebanon this year. In September,
a bomb exploded under a car parked outside a McDonald's
restaurant in Jounieh. The explosion destroyed the
car and damaged two other vehicles parked nearby.
The McDonald's was closed at the time.
In
May, a bomb exploded outside a building housing a
Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Hardee's in Tripoli.
The blast caused extensive damage to both fast-food
restaurants, but nobody was hurt as it was early morning.
NOTE: LebaneseForces.com was the
first Lebanese site to bring you breaking news on
this event. These pictures were also taken by one
of our photographers located in Jounieh.
