BEIRUT (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed himself and wounded several security officers at a hotel in Beirut close to the Saudi Arabian embassy on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said.

The bomber blew himself up when he was approached by security officers at the hotel, some 20 metres from the embassy, the sources said.

Lebanon has suffered a wave of sectarian violence linked to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. On Monday night, a suicide bomber blew up his car near an army checkpoint in the city, killing himself and a security officer. Three days earlier, the head of Lebanon's General Security service narrowly escaped a suicide bombing near the Syrian border.