Lebanon cabinet to meet in emergency over blast

Lebanese ministers will hold an emergency cabinet meeting today, a day after a deadly car bomb attack in Beirut linked to the conflict in neighbouring Syria, a spokesman said.

Lebanese ministers will hold an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday, a day after a deadly car bomb attack in Beirut linked to the conflict in neighbouring Syria, a spokesman said.

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The meeting is scheduled to get underway at 10.00 am (0700 GMT), said a spokesman for Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

The government, which is dominated by the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah, has declared Saturday a day of mourning, but the opposition has called for its resignation.

Friday's rush-hour bombing in Ashrafieh, a predominantly Christian neighbourhood of Beirut, killed eight people, including a top security official linked to the anti-Damascus camp in Lebanon.

The attack, which also left 86 people wounded, has rocked Lebanon, with the opposition blaming Syria's embattled regime for the attack and demanding the government resign.

Hezbollah is a strong ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam whose forces are battling a Sunni-led uprising that erupted in March 2011.