The bombing "might be meant to make Suleiman look as a weak president in Syria," said Mustafa Allouch, a member of parliament from Tripoli allied with Western-backed Sunni leader Saad Hariri, son of Rafik Hariri. "Syria is still trying to show that it is the big brother that can guarantee security in Lebanon."
Last week, Islamist groups in Tripoli held demonstrations calling for amnesty for hundreds of members detained by the military.
"This attack comes after a chain of unsuccessful attacks targeting the military which all could be interpreted as the vengeful acts of extreme Islamists," said Oussama Safa, director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies.
"Although a political agreement was reached in May in the country, the understanding remains transitory and superficial," Safa said, speaking of the accord that ended a long stalemate over selecting a president. "Issues have not yet been handled with depth, and the instability witnessed in Tripoli is a proof of that."
Wednesday's blast, at about 7:45 a.m., was caused by about 3 pounds of explosives placed in a bag on Banks Street, near a bus stop where soldiers usually gather, a security official said on condition of anonymity. The explosion shook the downtown business district.
A broken bus lay at the side of the road quickly sealed off by army trucks and tanks. Witnesses said that they saw body parts scattered at the scene. Local TV showed ambulances carrying injured people to hospitals while security officials cordoned off the site.
"There was a general state of panic. A woman was screaming, looking hysterically for her son," said Diyaa Taleb, 20, who was near the site of the explosion. "I saw many wounded soldiers and a child who was lying on the floor pale and motionless with his face mutilated."
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Times staff writer Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo contributed to this report.
