A powerful car bomb hit the motorcade of pro-Syrian Defence Minister Elias Murr Tuesday, wounding him and killing at least one person, say police.

Murr, who's also the outgoing defence minister, was slightly wounded in the blast. Police say 10 people were wounded in what is the latest of several attacks to shake Lebanon this year.

The blast took place in the northern district of Naqash in a wealthy hillside area overlooking the Mediterranean, on a road leading down to the coastal highway.

Footage from Lebanon's state National News Agency showed one man, bloodied but sitting up and moving, being helped out of one of the cars.

Police said a car packed with explosives went off as Murr's motorcade passed. The booby-trapped vehicle cleared a stone wall while Murr's Porsche Cayenne came to rest near a two-metre wide crater created from the blast.

Murr's the fifth personality to be targetted for assassination in the last year, but he's the first pro-Syrian among them to be hit.

"I know the country is going through a difficult phase and we all have to be steadfast until this phase passes," Murr told Voice of Lebanon radio from his hospital bed.

Syria, suspected by many Lebanese of having a hand in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, denies involvement. Damascus said the attempt on Murr's life was meant to destabilize its neighbour.

The blast came as Lebanon remained without a government. Media reports say Murr's name figured prominently in the new Cabinet's lineup.

Under Murr's watch as interior minister, a Muslim militant who was allegedly linked to a plot to blow up foreign embassies was killed in police custody last year. That prompted criticism of Murr, and increased security in his neighbourhood.

With a report from The Associated Press