Seven People Killed as Stone-throwing Protestors Riot in Beirut
Sporadic bursts of gunfire were heard over Beirut Sunday after violent demonstrators — protesting power cuts — tossed stones at Lebanese troops and blocked main roads with blazing tires and burning garbage bins. Seven people were killed and more than 19 others were wounded.
Among the victims was an official from Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri”s Amal movement. The others were four Hizbullah activists, a rescue worker and a civilian.
The official was identified as Ahmad Hamza, Amal”s representative in Hay Mouawwad quarter of Shiyah, where protests first broke out at around 4 pm.
“Hamza has passed away after being shot in the back,” an Amal official told AFP, adding that he was unable to identify the source of the fire.
The bloodshed came amid fears of civil unrest in Lebanon which has been gripped by a prolonged presidential crisis, and two days after a massive car bombing killed a top intelligence officer and four other people.
Violence swept the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hizbullah which is spearheading a campaign against the ruling March 14 coalition.
Youths wielding sticks and iron bars went on the rampage, pelting cars with stones and setting some on fire while the army was out in force in a bid to prevent the riots from spreading to nearby Sunni and Christian districts.
The riots were the worst since January 2007 when seven people were killed in clashes between students loyal to rival camps, prompting the army to impose a brief curfew for the first time since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.
The army command said in a communiqué that the protests coincided with gunfire that left two citizens killed, adding that it had opened an investigation.
The violence escalated after Hamza, who was cooperating with the army, was killed. It was unclear, however, who fired at the victims.
There were reports of snipers firing into the crowd from rooftops.
Amal officials said their party “will not be dragged into any provocation” and demanded a probe.
Both Amal and Hizbullah called for self restraint and urged the protesters to go home and allow the security
forces to restore order.
“The situation must be contained. We appeal to all the people who are on the streets to go home so that security forces can restore calm to the region,” Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil said.
March 14 blamed the opposition for the unrest saying it was being manipulated by its supporters Syria and Iran.
“The forces of the Syrian-Iranian axis are fomenting unrest and these events are very dangerous,” it said in a statement. “The opposition, which answers to Syria and Iran, is solely responsible for the blood spilled today.”
The army shut down many roads to stop the protests from spreading, and soldiers also took positions on rooftops.
But as night fell, riots spread to reach the airport highway, where demonstrators cut the main road with burning tires. Soon afterwards protestors cut the Mar Elias road in west Beirut while gunfire rang out sporadically across the southern suburbs.
Riots also reached south Lebanon, where the coastal highway between Sidon and Tyre was closed by blazing tires.
The road to Baalbek in east Lebanon”s Bekaa valley was also briefly closed.
A car that had been set ablaze exploded, triggering panic in Beirut where only two days ago a massive car bombing killed a top anti-terror officer and four other people.
A top security official warned the riots could spread unless politicians reined in their supporters.
Khalil insisted that Amal was not behind the protests, saying: “We believe that such actions do not resolve the demands being made by the protesters.”
The unrest broke out after demonstrators set ablaze tires, blocking a main road linking the Shiyah and Mar Mikhael neighborhoods to protest at power shortages.
The army fired warning shots to disperse the demonstrators, a security official said.
Witnesses said that gunmen in the crowd opened fire at the security forces who retaliated.
Demonstrators have faced off with security forces on several occasions in the past few days over power cuts and rising prices.
Sunday”s unrest came as Arab League foreign ministers were meeting in Cairo to try to press feuding Lebanese politicians to elect a new president to fill a seat that has been vacant since November 24.
Army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman — who is tipped to be elected president if March 14 and the opposition can agree — — warned last week that “any action that could trigger civil conflict is banned.”
The French embassy urged its citizens to exercise caution following Sunday”s riots and to avoid any travel in Beirut.
Picture: A Lebanese Shi”ite Lebanese throws stones at a burning car during clashes in Beirut suburbs January 27, 2008.REUTERS/ Issam Kobeisy (LEBANON)
Picture: Lebanese soldiers stand guard as opposition supporters demonstrate in Beirut”s Shiite southern suburb of Shiyah, Lebanon Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008. Dozens of angry people protesting electricity rationing closed a major intersection south of Beirut Sunday and troops had to shoot in the air to disperse the angry demonstrators, security officials said.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)