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Lebanon Clashes Move North as Beirut Unrest Eases
Bloomberg
Clashes erupted in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli between gunmen allied with the Hezbollah-led opposition that took over west Beirut last week and supporters of pro-Western
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
The outbreak in the port came as the capital, Beirut, remained calm after Hezbollah fighters withdrew from western neighborhoods yesterday. Hezbollah, which the U.S. regards as a terrorist
group, left after the government backed down on a threat to disrupt its covert phone network along with its electronic surveillance system at Beirut's international airport.
Siniora's concession didn't stop fighting from
spreading along sectarian lines. In Tripoli, firefights pitted Sunni Muslim gunmen loyal to the government against members of the Alawite sect of Islam, who are aligned with a pro-Syrian party and Hezbollah.
``In Tripoli
there is trouble where the Alawite and Sunni neighborhoods meet,'' resident Nicholas Tohme said in a telephone interview. ``It's a traditional front line.''
Siniora's ruling coalition includes Sunnis, Christians and
Druze and is backed by the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other American allies in the Middle East. Hezbollah counts on support from a Christian party and a small Druze grouping and is backed by Syria and Iran, U.S. adversaries.
Gunfire, Shelling
Fighting was also reported along Lebanon's eastern border with Syria early today.
``There was some gunfire at the town of Masna and some shelling and there is an ongoing investigation,''
Army Brigadier Saleh Haj Suleiman said in an interview today.
Violence in Lebanon broke out May 7 after the government fired the head of airport security, following the discovery of Hezbollah's surveillance system.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose group fought a 33-day war against Israel in 2006, defended the system's installation, saying it was needed to protect Lebanon from Israeli invasion.
A cease-fire was holding
between Hezbollah fighters and Druze backers of Walid Jumblatt, in the towns of Aley and Shweifat, Suleiman said.
``The army is spreading in the area and the situation is now stable,'' he said.
The death toll from
last week's fighting may have killed more than 80 people, Suleiman said. The figure isn't final yet as not all the casualties have been accounted for, he said.
Death Toll
At least 10 Hezbollah fighters are among
the dead. The number may be as many as 14, Suleiman said. Hussain Rahal, a spokesman for Hezbollah declined to provide the actual number of fighters killed when contacted today.
The International Red Cross, which has 450
workers on active duty since the crisis began, has accounted for 39 dead and 75 wounded, Ayad Mounzer, a spokesman for the group said today.
In an interview with LBC television yesterday, Jumblatt urged his rival Talal
Arslan, who is also from the Druze community and allied with the Hezbollah-led opposition, to help stop the fighting and place the area under army control.
Jumblatt leads a Druze party that is aligned with Siniora.
Arslan leads a small Druze faction aligned with Hezbollah. Arslan ask supporters of Jumblatt to surrender their weapons to the Lebanese army today.
Political Standoff
Hezbollah has been trying to oust the Siniora
government since November 2006, when the Shiite group's lawmakers and allies walked out of the cabinet demanding veto powers over decisions.
This month's unrest has been the most violent, as the political standoff
spilled over into sectarian conflict reminiscent of the 1975-1990 civil war. Some of the buildings scarred by bullets from the latest fighting still bear marks from that conflict.
A parliamentary session set for tomorrow
to elect a president for the country by lawmakers is most likely going to be postponed a 19th time, Ali Hamdan, spokesman for Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said in a telephone interview from Beirut today.
Arab foreign
ministers who met in Egypt yesterday said they will send a high-level delegation headed by Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa to try to resolve the situation in Lebanon.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Salaheddin
al-Bashir told Bloomberg News he would be traveling to Beirut as part of an Arab League committee hoping to defuse the conflict. He declined to provide more detail.
The 22-member Arab League is expected to press all
parties in Lebanon to return to dialogue and to order their supporters to stop the violence immediately.
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