BEIRUT, 7 May 2005 — At least two people were killed in an explosion that ravaged a shopping area in the port city of Jounieh in the Christian heartland north of Beirut late yesterday.

The leading LBC television station identified one of the dead as a Sri Lankan laborer. At least seven people were wounded in the blast that started a fire in nearby shops.

Witnesses in Jounieh, 15 km north of Beirut, said the explosion occurred near the main square of the picturesque town. LBC said it took place near a Christian religious radio station at the entrance to the old souk.

Flames shot up from the first floor of a building above the Cheaper Shop, a one-dollar store whose shutters were blown out by the force of the explosion. Fire engines rushed to the scene, maneuvering their way through the narrow alleys of the old town on the Bay of Jounieh.

The explosion, also heard in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean coast at about 9 p.m., shattered windows of apartments and cars in the old town, a mix of old stone buildings housing shops and residential apartments. The explosion broke a lull of several weeks following a spate of bombings of commercial areas — shopping centers and an industrial zone. Bombings in March and early April killed three people and injured 24.

The explosion comes on the eve of the return of Michel Aoun, Lebanon’s most prominent anti-Syrian politician, from 14 years of exile in France. His supporters, mainly Christians, have planned a big rally for him in downtown Beirut.

Lebanon has been in political turmoil since a massive bombing in the capital on Feb. 14 killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the country’s most famous politician, and 20 others. Since then, mass anti-Syrian protests and intense international pressure forced Syria to withdraw its troops. Syrian forces completed their withdrawal April 26 and a new government was installed in Beirut last month.

Yesterday, President George W. Bush extended for another year the economic sanctions on Syria imposed last year and said the country remained a threat to the United States. Bush extended a ban on certain US exports to Syria and other sanctions that were imposed on May 11, 2004.

“Because the actions and policies of the government of Syria continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States,” Bush said he was “continuing for one year the national emergency blocking the property of certain persons and prohibiting the exportation or re-exportation of certain goods to Syria.”

In originally imposing the sanctions, Bush accused Syria of supporting terrorism, continuing its occupation of Lebanon, pursuing weapons of mass destruction and undermining efforts to stabilize Iraq. The sanctions severed banking relations with the Commercial Bank of Syria, froze the assets of Syrians suspected of involvement in terrorism or WMD development, and prohibited Syrian flights to and from the United States.

Damascus expressed regret at the decision, blaming what it called the United States’ pro-Israeli policies for the move.

“The main problem is that the United States sees Syria with an Israeli eye,” Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said.