House Speaker Nabih Berri condemned Monday Verdun’s bombing, considering that “the sinful hands, which aimed at destabilizing the situation, target the nation first and Hezbollah second.”
In a statement, Berri called on the Lebanese people to “beware of the true dimensions behind targeting the heart of the Lebanon's capital by means of attacking its unique banking sector that has and still endures wars, as well as Israeli invasions and attempts to keep up with our expertise and free economic system."
"I urge all sides to adopt unified stances and to avoid being influenced by the suspicious conspiracies that target Lebanon's future and unique formula," Berri's statement concluded.
A bomb exploded outside the headquarters of Lebanese BLOM Bank in central Beirut on Sunday, causing damage but no fatalities, Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The Lebanese banking sector has been at the center of an escalating crisis since the United States passed a law requiring banks to take steps to target the finances of the armed Shi'ite political group Hezbollah.
Lebanon's central bank has pushed its commercial banks to heed the U.S. act, and BLOM Bank is one of those that has closed accounts belonging to people suspected of links to Hezbollah. The group had no immediate comment on the blast.
The Lebanese Red Cross said two people had suffered minor injuries in the blast, which took place around 8 p.m. in the Verdun area of Beirut.
The building was damaged, with one hole in a concrete wall, and shattered glass had fallen to the ground from several storeys up.
The head of Lebanon's Internal Security Force, Ibrahim Basbous, said the bomb had contained around 15 kg of explosive material and had been placed in a flower bed.