Kuwait Times

Published Date: May 08, 2008

BEIRUT: Supporters of Lebanon's US-backed government fought battles in Beirut yesterday with gunmen loyal to the Hezbollah-led opposition, escalating the worst internal crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. Supporters of Iranian-backed Hezbollah paralyzed the capital and cut routes to its sea and air ports by blocking roads with blazing tyres, old cars, heaps of earth and concrete blocks.

An opposition source said the protest campaign would continue until the government rescinded decisions affecting Hezbollah, including a move to take steps against a telecommunications network operated by the group. Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has led a 17-month-long political campaign against Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's anti-Syrian cabinet. Friction has already led to bouts of lethal violence.

Sunni Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rachid Kabbani denounced the actions of "outlawed armed gangs" in Beirut and said Hezbollah had now transformed itself from a resistance movement to an armed force to occupy Beirut. "The Sunni Muslims in Lebanon are fed up," he said in a televised address to the Lebanese. "I appeal to the leadership of Hezbollah from my national and religious position to take the initiative and withdraw the gunmen from Beirut.

Security sources said pro-government supporters exchanged assault rifle and grenade fire with Hezbollah sympathizers in the Beirut neighbourhoods of Noueiri, Ras Al-Nabae and Wata Al-Musaitbeh. Some 10 people were wounded in the violence. Opposition gunmen took over an office of the Future political group led by Saad Al-Hariri, leader of the governing coalition, Lebanon's most influential Sunni politician and a close ally of Saudi Arabia.

Youths loyal to the rival sides pelted each other with stones in Mazraa, one of the Beirut districts where sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites have been high. The army, mostly regarded as neutral during the crisis, deployed in force but did not attempt to remove the barricades. Government minister Marwan Hamadeh said Hezbollah, a political group with a powerful guerrilla army, was using "military means" to block the airport. The blockade trapped some 300 passengers arriving at the airport.

Tension between the government and Hezbollah escalated sharply on Tuesday when the cabinet said the group's communication network was "an attack on the sovereignty of the state". Hezbollah said it was part of its security apparatus and played a major role in its war with Israel in 2006. Hezbollah was also infuriated by government allegations it was spying on the airport and the cabinet's decision to remove the head of airport security, a figure close to the opposition, from his post.

Provoked by the government's moves, Hezbollah was "flexing its muscles" in the streets, said Oussama Safa, director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. "The heat has been turned up. But it's probably not going to unfold into war. A confrontation is not winnable," he said. "Things could get very ugly, but I don't think they will spread out of hand," said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "Everyone is armed and angry.

Hezbollah was the only Lebanese faction allowed to keep its weapons after the civil war to fight Israeli forces occupying the south. Israel withdrew in 2000 and the fate of Hezbollah's weapons is at the heart of the political crisis. Hezbollah has deemed Siniora's cabinet illegitimate since its Shiite ministers resigned in 2006. The governing coalition has refused to yield to the opposition's demand for effective veto power in cabinet. The crisis has paralysed much of government and left Lebanon without a president for five months.

Air traffic was suspended for six hours yesterday because of a strike by staff taking part in labour union action to demand more pay. The opposition had urged its supporters to back the strike. But just as the country is divided politically, the unions were split on whether to support the strike, which was largely confined to Shiite areas that back the opposition. The strike was largely ignored in Sunni and Christian areas of the city which support the government.

An AP photographer saw gunmen from Hezbollah and its allied Shiite Amal group shooting toward a building housing an office for the main pro-government Sunni group. Police also were seen firing toward a building. A cameraman for Hezbollah's Al-Manar television was beaten by a soldier, the station reported. Other news reports said he was hit by stones raining down on protesters.

Bystanders wrapped a shirt on his head to stop the bleeding before he left on his motorcycle. A soldier also was hit in the mouth by a stone. Two other news photographers were hurt by stones, according to witnesses and television reports. Earlier in the same area, a stun grenade thrown into a crowd lightly injured three protesters and two soldiers, the state-run National News Agency said. It was not immediately clear who threw the grenade. - Agencies