Clashes Intensify in Beirut

By NADA BAKRI
Published: May 9, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/world/middleeast/09lebanon.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Fierce clashes escalated in Beirut on Thursday between Sunni supporters of the government and loyalists of Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group, after Hezbollah’s leader said the government had declared war by threatening to shut down the group’s private telephone network.

At least four people died and seven others were wounded, according to security officials. The comments by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, were the strongest since Lebanon’s political crisis began 17 months ago. The developments could signal a new level of confrontation between Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and Syria, and the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, which is backed by the West and Saudi Arabia.

The standoff has left the country without a president since November.

Mr. Nasrallah left open the door for negotiations by saying that Hezbollah would back down if the Sunni forces left the streets of Beirut and the government reversed its decision to try to shut down the telephone network.

After Mr. Nasrallah’s speech, the leader of the largest bloc in Parliament, Saad Hariri, a Sunni, proposed a deal to end the fighting and called the government’s decision on the telephone network a misunderstanding.

Mr. Hariri said the decision should be left up to the army command, effectively taking it out of the government’s hands. He also urged the immediate election of the army commander, Gen. Michel Suleiman, as president and the convening of a national dialogue among the rival factions.
Later on Thursday night, Al Manar television, which is run by Hezbollah, said the group had rejected Mr. Hariri’s proposal. The station cited a pro-Hezbollah official, who said the group and its allies would reject any ideas for ending the conflict that were not proposed by Mr. Nasrallah.
Hezbollah has previously rejected proposals for electing a president before there is an agreement on a new cabinet and a new election law.

“The government’s proposal did not offer anything new on how to solve the political crisis,” said Talal Atrissi, a political sociology professor at the Lebanese University. “So one of the scenarios would be to continue fighting until either the government publicly backs off or the opposition agrees to hold dialogue.”

Mr. Hariri, the parliamentary leader, also urged Hezbollah to lift what he called its siege of Beirut, withdrawing militants from the streets and reopening roads, including those leading to the airport.

“My appeal to you and to myself as well, the appeal of all Lebanon, is to stop the slide toward civil war, to stop the language of arms and lawlessness,” Mr. Hariri said in a televised speech.
Mr. Nasrallah, speaking at a news conference via a video link, said the telephone network, which connects Hezbollah’s officials, military commanders and emplacements, was a vital part of the group’s military infrastructure.

“We have said before that we will cut the hands that will target the weapons of the resistance,” he said. “Today is the day to fulfill this promise.”

The government’s decision, he added, “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.”

Minutes after Mr. Nasrallah’s speech, armed men in mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods on the west side of Beirut engaged in heavy fighting using automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. The army raced in armored personal carriers from one neighborhood to another, with soldiers shooting in the air to try to stop the fighting.

By late Thursday masked gunmen were roaming the streets with walkie-talkies. Some were seen shooting out streetlights to keep rooftop snipers from directing their fire at targets.
Many residents along Corniche Mazraa, a major highway that has become a demarcation line between the factions, were seen leaving their houses for safer areas. Others lined up in supermarkets, stocking up on food supplies.

Several parts of the city were shut down, and roads were blocked by burning tires and garbage cans set on fire.

Fighting also broke out in the Bekaa Valley, to the east, where government and Hezbollah supporters blocked roads and exchanged gunfire.

The clashes started Wednesday after the government’s decision on Tuesday to take steps against Hezbollah’s telephone network, which government officials considered a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.