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Hezbollah Gunmen Seize Control of Beirut Areas
The Associated Press
Friday 09 May 2008
Beirut, Lebanon - Shiite opposition gunmen seized control of several Beirut
neighborhoods from Sunni foes loyal to the U.S.-backed government on Friday
as sectarian clashes reminiscent of Lebanon's bloody 15-year civil war raged
in the capital.
At least 11 people have been killed and more than 20 wounded in three days
of street battles and gunfights, security officials said.
The satellite television station affiliated with the top Sunni lawmaker's party
was forced off the air Friday in a sign that pro-government forces were collapsing
as the Iranian-backed Hezbollah opposition gained steam.
Gunmen also set the offices of the party's newspaper, Al-Mustaqbal, on fire
Friday in the coastal neighborhood of Ramlet el-Bayda. White smoke was seen
billowing from the building.
Lebanon's army, which has stayed out of the sectarian political squabbling
that has paralyzed the country for more than a year, only intervened after the
building was set ablaze. Troops provided cover for firefighters, who eventually
extinguished the flames.
The army also evacuated employees from the TV station, but only after gunmen
massed near it and threatened to destroy it, said Nadim Mounla, the station's
chief.
The fighting could have implications for the entire Middle East at a time when
Sunni-Shiite tensions are high. The tensions are fueled in part by the rivalry
between predominantly Shiite Iran, which sponsors Hezbollah, and Sunni Arab
countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The crackle of gunfire and occasional explosions also continued to reverberate
across the western, largely Muslim, sector of the city Friday.
A rocket-propelled grenade hit the fence of the heavily protected residence
of the top Sunni lawmaker, Saad Hariri, security officials said. Hariri was
believed to be in the residence at the time of the blast. The officials spoke
on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.
Shiite gunmen roamed unopposed through the deserted streets of neighborhoods
once dominated by supporters of the government. Dozens of cars and shops had
been damaged by the fighting.
"We entered Karakol Druse. There is no Jumblatt and no Hariri here," a Shiite
gunman told Associated Press Television News, referring to Hariri's ally, Druse
leader Walid Jumblatt.
"We entered the neighborhood. They threw away their weapons and ran," said
another gunman as one of his colleagues tore down a poster of Hariri.
The scenes were a grim reminder of Lebanon's devastating 1975-90 civil war
in which 150,000 were killed and parts of the city wrecked as it was carved
into warring sectarian enclaves.
Street clashes exploded into gunbattles in parts of Beirut on Thursday afternoon
after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Lebanon's Western-backed government
of declaring war on his Shiite militant group. It was the militant leader's
strongest comments since Lebanon's political crisis erupted 17 months ago.
Hariri later went on television urging Hezbollah to pull its fighters back
and "save Lebanon from hell." He proposed a compromise that would involve
the army, one of the sole national institutions respected by Lebanon's long
deadlocked factions.
But Hezbollah and its allies swiftly rejected the offer. Al-Manar television,
which is run by Hezbollah, said the group would not agree to any ideas to end
the crisis that were not proposed by Nasrallah.
The unrest has virtually shut down Lebanon's international airport and barricades
closed major highways.
Hezbollah first blocked roads in Beirut on Wednesday to enforce a strike called
by labor unions, but confrontations quickly spread and became more violent across
the city. Factions threw up roadblocks and checkpoints dividing Beirut into
sectarian enclaves, and the chattering of automatic weapons and thumps of rocket-propelled
grenades echoed across Beirut overnight.
In his speech, Nasrallah warned against trying to disarm Hezbollah and said
his fighters would retaliate swiftly if attacked.
The clashes are the latest turn in a test of wills between the Hezbollah-led
opposition and the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
The government, which is allied with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, has only a
slim majority in parliament. The two sides have been locked in a power struggle
that has kept government at a standstill and the country without a president
since November.
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Associated Press writer Scheherezade Faramarzi contributed to this report.
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