Heated clashes erupt in Beirut
Fierce armed clashes erupted on Thursday in west Beirut between supporters of Lebanon”s Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition, a security official told AFP.
The official said the clashes had erupted in several mixed Sunni and Shiite Muslim neighborhoods, with militants using rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and machine guns.
There were no reports of casualties, he said.
Television footage showed armed gunmen in the Corniche al-Mazraa and Ras An-Nabaa districts firing at each other shortly after a press conference by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on the latest escalation in the country”s protracted political crisis.
Beirut”s streets were virtually deserted as residents, fearing the possibility of a full-blown sectarian conflict, stayed indoors.
The violence began Wednesday during what was to be a general strike over mounting prices and wage demands. The strike quickly took on a sectarian tone as Sunni and Shiite militants clashed in various neighborhoods, setting tyres on fire and shutting down the highway leading to the airport.
Picture: A Hezbollah supporter burns tires, closing for a second day the highway to Lebanon”s only international airport during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 8, 2008. Shiite supporters of Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Sunnis backing Lebanon”s U.S.-backed government clashed for a second straight day Thursday as the sectarian confrontations in Beirut spread to other parts of the country. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)