Fighting rocks Beirut, kills 10; Hezbollah defiant
Pastor Dale Morgan
Fighting rocks Beirut, kills 10; Hezbollah defiant*
08 May 2008 22:19:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Nadim Ladki
BEIRUT, May 8 (Reuters) - Fierce clashes raged in Beirut on Thursday
after the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah said the U.S.-supported
Lebanese government had declared war by targeting its military
communications network.
Security sources said the fighting killed at least 10 people and wounded
20. The thud of exploding grenades and crackle of automatic gunfire
echoed throughout the night in the worst internal strife since the
1975-90 civil war.
Governing coalition leader Saad al-Hariri proposed a deal to end the
crisis under which the government decisions that infuriated Hezbollah
would be considered a "misunderstanding".
The decisions would then be referred to the Lebanese army, which has
been neutral in the confrontations, giving army commander General Michel
Suleiman the option to suspend their implementation.
But Hezbollah's al-Manar TV later quoted an opposition source as
rejecting any ideas for ending the conflict other than those proposed by
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah earlier on Thursday. Nasrallah
had demanded measures taken by the government this week be rescinded.
The U.N. Security Council called for "calm and restraint", urging all
sides to return to peaceful dialogue. The White House urged Hezbollah to
stop "disruptive" acts.
Fighters from the Shi'ite movements Hezbollah and Amal exchanged assault
rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades with pro-government gunmen,
including fighters loyal to the Sunni Future movement, in several areas
of the capital.
Security sources said Hezbollah gunmen overran at least five offices of
Hariri's Future group and police-guarded houses of pro-government
officials. Many cars and shops were set on fire and scores of terrified
civilians fled the hot spots.
Hezbollah launched a new campaign of street protests on Wednesday,
piling pressure on the government after it declared Hezbollah's
communications network illegal and removed the head of airport security,
a figure close to the group, from his post.
Supporters of Hezbollah and its allies have blocked roads leading to the
airport -- Lebanon's only air link to the outside world -- and other
main streets, paralysing much of the capital.
The airport was barely functioning with only a few flights arriving and
taking off, airport officials said.
"CUT THE HAND"
Fighting escalated minutes after Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
said the only way out of the crisis was for the government to rescind
the decisions and attend talks to end the political conflict with the
Hezbollah-led opposition.
"This decision is first of all a declaration of war and the launching of
war by the government... against the resistance and its weapons for the
benefit of America and Israel," he said.
Nasrallah described the fixed-line network that connects the group's
officials, military commanders and positions as a vital part of the
military structure of the group, which fought a 34-day war with Israel
in 2006.
"I had said that we will cut the hand that targets the weapons of the
resistance. ... Today is the day to fulfil this decision," Nasrallah
said via video link from an unknown location in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Hezbollah supporters and pro-government loyalists had clashed earlier in
the day in the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country, where five were
wounded, security sources said.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said the Security Council
should consider "additional steps" including sanctions if Syria and
Hezbollah did not take steps to resolve the crisis.
"Hezbollah needs to make a choice -- be a terrorist organisation or be a
political party, but quit trying to be both," said a White House
spokesman. "They need to start playing a constructive role and stop
their disruptive activities now."
"It's double jeopardy: the cabinet can't retreat or it is practically
finished and can't go through with it to the end because of the balance
of power on the ground," columnist Rafik Khouri wrote in the newspaper
al-Anwar.
"And Hezbollah can't step back from its position because it would be
agreeing to getting its wings clipped and can't go all the way because
of the dangers sectarian strife poses for everyone."
Hezbollah has led a political campaign against Prime Minister Fouad
Siniora's anti-Syrian cabinet. The crisis has paralysed much of the
government, left Lebanon with no president for five months, and already
led to bouts of violence.
The group 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. (Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Laila
Bassam, and Claudia Parsons in New York; edited by Richard Meares)