Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Wednesday condemned the blast in eastern Beirut earlier in the day, which killed a Christian lawmaker and several others, the official MENA news agency reported.
"There were some hands targeting Lebanon's stability shortly ahead of the country's presidential elections," Abul Gheit was quoted as saying.
The Egyptian top diplomat called on all parties to secure the presidential elections to be held on time and launch a Lebanese national dialogue to agree on the coming president.
Abul Gheit also offered condolences to the Lebanese people over the blast in the Sin el-Fil district, a Christian suburb, which killed Lebanese Christian lawmaker Antoine Ghanem along with eight others.
The explosion took place just a week before a parliament session due on Sept. 25 to elect a new head of state to replace the incumbent President Emile Lahoud.
Lebanon has been rocked by a series of assassinations in recent years. In June, a similar blast in Beirut killed lawmaker Walid Eido and nine others.
Source: Xinhua
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