BEIJING, Mar. 28 -- Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has pledged to do his utmost to end a spate of violence that has gripped Lebanon since last month's assassination of former Prime Minster Rafik Hariri.

    "The most important thing is that the people should help us. The same way the state has responsibilities the people have responsibilities too. We should all be united because this is how we can save the country."

    Lahoud's call for unity came a day after a bombing injured five people in Beirut.

    Saturday's bomb blast set off huge fires in the mainly Christian northeastern suburb of Bouchrieh. This was the third such attack in eight days.

    The bomb raised tensions another notch in Lebanon, which has been in political turmoil since Hariri's assassination in February.

    Opposition groups have blamed Hariri's assassination on Syria and pro-Damascus Lebanese authorities, but both vehemently deny such claims.

    Opposition leaders have also suggested that Syrian security forces would launch attacks aimed at extending the presence of Syrian troops in the country on security grounds.

    Meanwhile, trucks carrying Syrian troops and goods abandoned positions in the central Bekaa Valley early on Sunday and went home, crossing the border at Masnaa.

    The latest withdrawals came against the backdrop of a report by a UN fact-finding mission critical of Syria and its allied Lebanese government over the assassination of Hariri.

    The report, which recommended an international investigation into the murder, drew praise from the anti-Syrian opposition and criticism from the pro-government camp but Beirut has grudgingly accepted a foreign inquiry.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)