RIYADH An explosion in a metal bin outside a bookshop in the center of the Saudi capital left one Briton and one Egyptian lightly wounded, Riyadh police said Friday.

"A charge left in a bin went off Thursday about 22:45 (1945 GMT) lightly injuring a Briton and an Egyptian," a senior officer told the official SPA news agency.

He said there was no real damage caused by the blast on Olaya main street, a major shopping avenue running through the city.

"Both have been treated in a Riyadh hospital and gone home," an official, who asked not be named, had told AFP earlier. He could not identify the two victims, but said one was Irish.

Security forces sealed off the area, an AFP correspondent reported, as an inquiry was launched.

The building which houses the Jareer Bookshop also includes the newspaper **** Al-Hayat ****. Damage to the facade was limited to black scorches, the correspondent said.

A series of blasts in Saudi Arabia late last year which left one Briton dead and four other people wounded have been linked to a multimillion dollar alcohol smuggling business.