A rocket fired from a hillside blasted the wall of the United States Embassy compound in East Beirut today, on the eve of the Arab-Israeli peace conference in Madrid.
The explosion caused no casualties or serious damage to the embassy building, which is in the Christian suburb of Aukur, said a Lebanese guard who answered the telephone at the embassy.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. But Iranian and Arab extremists have promised to attack targets of the United States, which is a sponsor of the conference, and others taking part in it. Extremists oppose the meeting because it could lead to Arab recognition for Israel.
Minutes after the blast, Lebanese army troops and police officers set up a cordon around the embassy and turned away reporters and photographers. No embassy officials were available for comment. The Ambassador to Lebanon, Ryan Crocker, was in Madrid with the American delegation to the conference.
All embassy functions were moved to east Beirut site after the American compound in Muslim west Beirut was destroyed by two truck bombs in 1983 and 1984. The suicide attacks by the Islamic Holy War organization left 74 people dead, including 21 Americans, and 196 wounded.
Islamic Holy War is one of the Shiite Muslim factions holding kidnapped Western hostages in Lebanon. The groups are believed to be under the loose control of the Party of God.
Sheik Abbas Musawi, secretary general of the Party of God, proclaimed a day of mourning for Wednesday to mark the opening of the peace talks, which he denounced as an effort by Israel to buy time to "bring in more Jewish immigrants and create more settlements in occupied territories."
