Beirut 'rehearsal for civil war'
2007-01-26 11:14
Beirut - Lebanon took stock on Friday after a day of deadly street battles in the capital between government and opposition supporters which killed four people and sparked fears of a plunge back into civil strife.
An uneasy calm prevailed in Beirut at the lifting of an overnight curfew imposed to end the intense fighting between rival Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims in which around 151 people were also wounded.
The riots, at a level not seen since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, overshadowed a Paris donors' conference which drew pledges of $7.6bn in aid for Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's beleaguered government.
A few shops and businesses opened when the overnight curfew ended at 06.00, but schools and universities remained shut across the nation in line with government orders, AFP correspondents reported.
The roads where the clashes erupted were covered with litter and rubble, while burnt-out cars, buses and large garbage containers lined streets close to Beirut international airport.
During the night, the Lebanese army deployed heavily across the deserted capital, staging patrols and erecting checkpoints on main crossings.
Strike, clashes
The rioting came two days after the Syrian-backed opposition, led by the Shi'ite party Hezbollah, brought the country to a near-halt through a general strike which was also marred by widespread deadly clashes.
"Rehearsal for civil war in the streets of Beirut," warned the headline of the al-Balad newspaper.
"Damn the one who awakened it," cried the bold headline of the leftist As Safir newspaper in reference to confessional dissension.
Thursday's clashes first broke out on the main campus of Beirut Arab University but fighting soon penetrated mainly Muslim districts of the capital, both Sunni and Shi'ite.
Youths threw rocks, set fire to tyres to block traffic, torched cars and smashed windshields amid the rattle of gunshots as troops fired into the air to try to disperse the crowds. There were reports of gunfire and pictures showed masked men holding guns and assault-rifles.
- AFP