Beirut bombing investigated
Reports show fire, smoke, structural damage
 |  Officials believe the blast was caused by a car bomb. |
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 A reported car bomb attack in Beirut is third in eight days.
 U.N. report on Hariri's death criticizes Syrian security forces.
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BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Lebanese security forces on Sunday were investigating the bombing of a mainly Christian neighborhood of Beirut that came just hours before the traditional midnight Mass celebration of Easter.
Up to eight people were reported injured after what is believed to be a car bomb exploded in the industrial district Saturday night.
The attack is the third to hit Christian areas in Beirut since March 19 and is another blow to a nation with deep political divisions after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Patriarch Nasrallah Butrous Sfeir, spiritual leader of Lebanon's Maronite Christians and a longtime critic of Syria's grip on Lebanon, told worshippers at Easter Mass the Lebanese must now choose between freedom and violence, according to Reuters.
"The holiday this year does not give the faithful worldly cheer," he said. "The incidents ... put (people) at a crossroads: either independence, sovereignty and freedom -- and that is what most Lebanese want -- or turmoil and difficulties."
A print shop and possibly a timber yard filled with combustible materials were said to be in the area, accounting for some of the heavy smoke and fire.
The United States condemned the bombing in a written statement from State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
"We call on the Lebanese authorities to exercise their responsibility to the Lebanese people to provide for their security and to identify and bring to justice those responsible for these acts," the statement said.
Last month's assassination of Hariri has provoked outrage over Syria's military and political influence, setting off massive demonstrations.
Many Lebanese believe Syria was behind the killing, and Prime Minister Omar Karami and his government resigned on February 28 under intense pressure.
But he was reappointed by parliament to bring together opposition and loyalist politicians in a cabinet to lead Lebanon to general elections scheduled for May.
Syria began pulling its 14,000 troops to the Bekaa Valley near the border March 8, and vowed to bring all the troops and intelligence officials across the border into Syria.
A fact-finding team investigating Hariri's assassination has blamed Syria's government for the political tension that preceded the killing, a U.N. report released last week showed.
"It is clear that the assassination took place in a political and security context marked by an acute polarization around the Syrian influence in Lebanon and a failure of the Lebanese state to provide adequate protection for its citizens," investigators concluded.
A 15-year civil war mostly pitted Lebanon's ruling conservative Christians against leftist Muslims, with Syria, Israel and Western international forces -- including U.S. Marines -- occasionally taking part.
The treaty that ended the fighting revised the constitution to give the Muslim majority a greater role.
The presidency, chosen by parliament, goes to a Christian. The prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim.
CNN's Brent Sadler contributed to this report
