Hand grenade explodes in Beirut parking lot: army

BEIRUT (AFP) - A hand grenade exploded Wednesday in a parking lot near Beirut's engineering union and damaged several nearby cars but did not cause any injuries, a Lebanese army spokesman said.

Lebanese soldiers patrol a road on the Beirut seafront (© AFP/File - Joseph Barrak)

"The hand grenade went off today around 11:00 am (0800 GMT) in a parking lot used by the union in the Wata Al-Msaytbi district but no one was harmed," the spokesman told AFP.

The blast occurred shortly before a string of high-profile diplomatic visits to Lebanon, including that of Saudi King Abdullah who is expected in Beirut on Friday.