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Seven dead in Beirut protests
27/01/2008 23:50 - (SA)
Beirut - Seven people were shot dead in
Beirut on Sunday in some of the worst internal violence since
Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, raising tensions in a country
gripped by a political crisis.
At least five of the dead were supporters of the pro-Syrian
opposition, opposition sources said.
The opposition has been locked in a power struggle for more
than a year with the Western-backed government of Prime Minister
Fouad Siniora. The conflict has fuelled sectarian tensions
between Shi'ite Muslims loyal to the opposition and Sunni
followers of Saad al-Hariri, who leads the governing coalition.
The violence spiralled after an activist from the opposition
Amal movement was shot dead when the army moved to break up a
demonstration against power cuts.
The army, seen as neutral in the crisis, had fired in the
air to disperse the initial protest. It said it was
investigating who was behind the shooting, which it said killed
two people. Cars set ablaze
Heavy gunfire was heard and gunmen were seen in nearby
Shi'ite Muslim and Christian streets. Cars were set ablaze in
Beirut and protests spread beyond the capital to Shi'ite
villages in the south and the Bekaa Valley to the east.
Protesters used blazing tyres to block several main roads,
including the highway to the airport in the worst violence in
Beirut since clashes a year ago between supporters of the
governing coalition and its Syrian-backed rivals.
Security sources said 22 people were also wounded. At least
four of the dead were close to the pro-Syrian Hezbollah, which
together with Amal has the support of the Shi'ite population.
Amal, led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, called on its
followers to halt the protests.
"We have no link to this action. We call on people not to
react. We call on them to pull out of the streets," senior Amal
official Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters. Hezbollah, which leads
the opposition alliance, used loudspeakers to urge calm.
Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo on Sunday to review
Arab League efforts to mediate an end to the political conflict,
which has left Lebanon without a president since November.
Sunday's protest began in the Mar Makhaeil area of southern
Beirut, near the site of a shooting that had triggered Lebanon's
civil war.
Security sources said one soldier was injured when
protesters threw stones at the initial protest.
Rival leaders have agreed that army chief General Michel
Suleiman should be the next president. But his election to the
post has been held up by a dispute over the make-up of a new
government.
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