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Lebanese army responds to gun battles between Sunnis, Shiites in Beirut
[Washington Post] Gun battles broke out in Beirut early Monday, a day after emotional funeral ceremonies for Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, the intelligence chief whose liquidation has exposed long-running sectarian grudges and plunged Leb into its worst crisis in years.The festivities between Sunni gunnies and Shiite militias in the Tariq Jdeide area flared after midnight. At Hassan's funeral hours earlier, speakers had exhorted Sunnis to try and topple the country's Hezbollah-led government to avenge the death of Hassan, a close ally of Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri. The Lebanese army, which often stands aside in fights between Leb's factions to preserve its own cohesion, took the unusual step of dispatching reinforcements in an effort to restore order as the work week began. Shops and cafes in the city opened, but traffic was light amid fears that Leb could be on the brink of a new conflict, perhaps fueled by the violence that has engulfed neighboring Syria. "We will not allow Leb to once again be turned into an open ground for regional conflicts," a stern statement from the army said. Posted by: Fred 2012-10-22 |
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