Lebanese leftist leader escape assassination try

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt escaped an apparent assassination attempt when a car bomb blew up near him in west Beirut, killing four people and injuring 15 others.

Mr. Jumblatt, thrust into prominence after his father's assassination in 1977 , is one of Lebanon's most prominent leftist leaders and a chieftain of its Druze Muslim community, which has lately been involved in a series of bloody clashes with Christian militiamen south of Beirut.

The explosion was believed the largest in west Beirut since the Lebanese Army took control of the city after the withdrawal of Israeli forces at the end of September.