Hizbullah Condemns UNIFIL Attack as Opposition Blames It and Syria

Hizbullah on Friday condemned the bomb attack earlier in the day on a French UNIFIL patrol in southern Lebanon, as the opposition March 14 camp claimed the incident was a message from Syria and that Hizbullah was "the messenger."

Opposition MP Marwan Hamadeh immediately blamed Damascus for the attack, saying it was orchestrated with the help of its Lebanese ally Hizbullah.

"It is clear that Syria was behind what happened today and the messenger was Hizbullah," he told Agence France Presse.

"Nothing happens in that region without Hizbullah's approval," he said.

"The Syrians have accused France of being at the forefront of what they believe is a foreign plot to destabilize their country and everyone felt that something was bound to happen," Hamadeh added.

Hizbullah in a statement denounced the attack saying it targeted Lebanon's security and sought to destabilize the southern part of the country.

"We urge the Lebanese security agencies to exert utmost efforts to put an end to such attacks," the party said.

Meanwhile, the opposition Lebanese Forces warned against the presence of "armed organizations which the state has allowed to operate outside its authority under the slogan ‘the army, the people and the Resistance’."

"The presence of these illegitimate armed forces outside state control is what provides the necessary elements for such security incidents -- from the security cover, weapons and explosives to the trained members and their freedom of movement and financing, " the LF said.

The Democratic Renewal Movement noted that "amid these circumstances,” the attack “can only be interpreted as an attempt to influence the French stance on the current events in Syria.”

A bomb struck a French U.N. peacekeeping patrol near the coastal city of Tyre on Friday, wounding five soldiers in an attack President Michel Suleiman said was aimed at driving French troops out the country.

The incident marks the third such attack this year against the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and comes at a sensitive time when Lebanon is bracing for a possible fallout from the nine-month uprising in neighboring Syria.

A security official told Agence France Presse that the 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) blast was caused by a roadside bomb that targeted a French UNIFIL patrol as it drove on the southern outskirts of the coastal city of Tyre.

Officials said five peacekeepers as well as two civilian passersby were hurt. The Lebanese army said in a statement that one of the peacekeepers was severely wounded in the face.