KASLIK, Lebanon - The inhabitants of Kaslik, a Christian opposition bastion shaken by a fatal overnight bomb blast, were convinced Wednesday that Syria and its Lebanese agents are trying to terrorize them into dropping demands for an end to Syrian influence in Lebanon.
"The Syrians and their acolytes want to punish us for calling for our freedom and the departure of their troops and intelligence agents," Georgette Rouphail said as she swept up broken glass.
Her shop near the Alta Vista shopping center here about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Beirut was not spared when an 80-kilogram (180-pound) bomb exploded after midnight, killing three people -- including two Indians -- and injuring three.
The explosion at the shopping center was the second in five days in a Christian district and came at a moment of acute political tension that followed the assassination, also in a bomb blast, of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri February 14.
The Hariri murder has been blamed by the Lebanese opposition on Syrian and Lebanese operatives despite denials by authorities in Beirut and Damascus.
Debris from Wednesday's blast was spread over 300 meters (yards). Anxious shop owners were picking up the pieces while Asian workers cleared the street and sidewalk.
"Syria, forced by the international community to get out of Lebanon, thinks that with the help of its Lebanese collaborators it can snuff out the uprising for independence that was ignited by the murder of Rafiq Hariri," opposition MP Fares Souaid told AFP.
"But they're mistaken -- they'll never destroy our will."
Syria is in the process of calling home its 14,000 troops from Lebanon under massive Lebanese and international pressure that intensified in the weeks after the Hariri assassination.
Damascus has maintained a powerful political and military presence in Lebanon since 1976.
Another deputy, Mansour Bonn, predicted more violence, noting that the explosion Wednesday followed a bomb blast early Saturday in Jdeide, another Christian district near Beirut, that injured 11 people.
"It will happen tomorrow in Jbail and Batroun in order to terrorize the Christians," he warned.
Stifling a sob, Shadia Sfeir, an elderly saleswoman, accused "Syrian agents of wanting to prevent us from demonstrating for the recovery of our sovereignty. But they are wrong."
Added another shopowner, Mona Amiouni: "It's a big country that is trying to stop our little country from breaking free of its yoke."
Georges, a man in his 50s, said the Syrians "are unhappy about leaving Lebanon humiliated and are taking revenge by sowing insecurity."
Simon Shihan, awakened by glass falling on his bed, noted that "the attack in Kaslik came just before Easter Sunday while the one in Jdeide occurred just before Palm Sunday."
"The joint Syrian-Lebanese services want to bring the Christians to their knees, but God is great."
Taking a different line early Wednesday was Jamil Nehme, a former director general of Lebanese security who was seated at a cafe table near the blast site.
"The people's court is always the most dangerous. Public opinion is unfair. The Syrians are our neighbors and they can't leave us humiliated."
03/23/2005 12:31 GMT