(Xinhua) -- Lebanese Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday asked his followers to cooperate with the army and withdraw from the streets. "It is a religious duty. All must ... leave the streets and remain calm and restrain themselves," Nasrallah said in an audio message broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV. He also called on his supporters to leave the arena and the security forces to shoulder full responsibility to control the situation. Scared himself, did he? Or were events moving faster than his controllers in Teheran intended them to?
Nasrallah's appeal came after deadly clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government supporters at Beirut Arab University on Thursday, leaving at least one people dead and 81 others wounded, according to local Naharnet news website. The report quoted security sources as saying that the casualties included 17 wounded soldiers, four of whom are officers. Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr ordered a nighttime curfew to help the army enforce law and order. The army said the curfew would last from 8:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) Thursday until 6 a.m. Friday(0400 GMT). On Tuesday, similar clashes broke out during the Hezbollah-led opposition's general strike against the government, leaving at least three dead and 175 wounded.