|
Police: 2 killed in Beirut shooting after Hezbollah takeover
 A Shiite Muslim shop owner opened fire on a funeral procession Saturday, killing two people and wounding six others in a Sunni neighborhood, police and witnesses said. The attack came a day after Shiite Hezbollah gunmen seized most of the capital's Muslim sector in the worst sectarian strife since a 15-year civil war ended nearly two decades ago. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Hezbollah had carried out "armed coup" against Lebanese democracy, and called on the army to restore law and order and remove gunmen from the streets. A total of 25 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the recent violenceĀthe worst sectarian bloodshed since the 1978-90 civil war that killed 150,000 people and left Beirut divided along religious lines. Though most of Beirut was calmer Saturday, the shooting underlined the lawlessness that has engulfed the seaside city since Sunni-Shiite violence first erupted four days ago. In a show of raw force, Iranian-backed Hezbollah gunmen took over large swaths of western Beirut Friday from Sunnis loyal to Lebanon's U.S.-backed government. Many later pulled back, but tensions remained high between supporters of the Shiite militant Hezbollah and the country's Sunni Muslims. But Hezbollah's show of military power was certain to both strengthen its own political position in Lebanon and deeply worry a Middle East and Western world that are nervous about Iran's growing influence and its intentions in the region. An Associated Press photographer who witnessed Saturday's shooting said the attack came as a procession of 200 people marched toward a cemetery to bury a 24-year-old man killed by a sniper's bullet earlier this week. Two people were killed and six wounded in the shooting, police said. The shooting occurred even though the Lebanese army had positioned armored personnel carriers and jeeps at every intersection. The neighborhood, Tarik Jadideh, was one of the few Sunni areas Shiite militants had not seized Friday because the army had deployed in large numbers.
Though the capital was quiet overnight, violence spread to other areas of Lebanon. Police said Saturday that seven people were killed in the mountain town of Aley east of Beirut on Friday. Another civilian died in the clashes in the southern city of Sidon, police said. In Beirut's western Muslim sector, most of the Hezbollah gunmen had pulled out of Sunni-dominated neighborhoods by Saturday morning, leaving just small bands of Shiite allies carrying assault rifles to patrol the streets. The army, which has stayed on the sidelines of the political crisis that has paralyzed Lebanon for more than a year, deployed heavy armor and troops to seal off neighborhoods after Hezbollah militants pulled back. Hezbollah seized the Sunni neighborhoods of Beirut after its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Thursday accused the U.S.-backed government of "declaring war" on the militant group. Lebanon's Cabinet had sought to rein in Hezbollah by ordering the removal of an airport security chief over alleged ties to militants and demanding the dismantling of the movement's private phone network. Along with seizing neighborhoods, militants also have shut Lebanon's airport by barricading the road leading to it. The seaport also was closed. The Shiite fighters' swift success dramatically empowered the hand of the Hezbollah-led opposition in the bitter political struggle with pro-Western factions over who will guide the country. The rout of government supporters also was a blow for Washington, which has long considered Hezbollah a terrorist group and condemns its ties to Syria and Iran. The Bush administration has been a strong supporter of Saniora's government and its army the last three years. Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-05-10 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=238736 |