Lebanon's political tension spills out on the streets

May 6, 2008, 14:29 GMT

Beirut - Intensified political wrangling in Lebanon has fuelled tensions in Beirut's streets, with clashes between followers of the opposition led by Hezbollah and others who back the western- backed government taking place on a nightly basis.

At least four people have been injured over the past few days in various clashes between followers of the Shiite Amal and Hezbollah movements and others, who are mainly Sunni backers, of ruling majority leader Saad Hariri.

Residents of Kornich al Mazraa, a mainly Sunni neighbourhood, said 'there are daily fights between the rivals in the streets.'

Another resident, blaming the tensions on Lebanon's politicians, added, 'now they are using wooden sticks, later they will use machineguns...Their differences are clearly reflecting on the streets...and at the end the people pay the price.'

The ongoing violence has fuelled fears among security officials that the streets 'are boiling' as a result of the recent political accusations between the majority and Hezbollah, who were accused of spying at Beirut international airport.

The situation intensified Tuesday after the Lebanese cabinet in a marathon session decided to remove Beirut airport's security chief, who is a Shiite and is close to Hezbollah, over alleged ties to the militant Hezbollah group.

The decision, announced by Information Minister Ghazi Aridi, was expected to heighten tensions between the government and the opposition and put them on a collision course a day before a labour union strike supported by the opposition is scheduled to take place.

Aridi said Brigadier General Wafik Shoukair would rejoin the army. He also said the cabinet had declared that a telecommunications network used by Hezbollah for military purposes was 'illegal and a danger to state security.'

The cabinet decisions come a day after Lebanon's top prosecutor began investigating allegations that the militant group backed by Iran and Syria had set up cameras near the airport to monitor the movement of anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians and foreign dignitaries.

The allegations started last Saturday when Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt accused Hezbollah of placing the cameras and asserted that Hezbollah was planning to assassinate senior leaders by bombing aircraft.

The airport is located in the predominantly Shiite southern Beirut suburbs, a hotbed for Hezbollah.

Jumblatt also said Saturday that the airport's security chief, whom he described as a Hezbollah loyalist, should be fired. He also called for the expulsion of Iran's ambassador in Lebanon.

In return, Hezbollah deputy chief Naeem Kassem dismissed the allegations and said the group's telecommunications network was a necessity for the group's deterrence capabilities in the fight against Israel.

Hezbollah, which fought a fierce month-long war against Israel in mid-2006, has thousands of sophisticated weapons, including long- range rockets that can reach deep inside Israel.

On several occasions the Shiite militant group has said its arsenal would only be used to defend against Israeli attacks, but many people in Lebanon fear Hezbollah is trying to build 'a state within a state.'

The current tensions have led Shiite and Sunni clergymen to intervene to try to defuse the situation on the streets.

On Monday, a top Shiite cleric, Sheik Abdul-Amir Kabalan, appealed for calm and asked politicians to stop their 'war of words.'

Many observers now fear that the cabinet decision might turn Wednesday's general strike into street confrontations between opposition supporters and government followers.

Majority politicians expressed fears that the general strike could turn out to become a new stage in the broiling political row, especially after opposition MP Michel Aoun called employers and employees to take part in the May 7 demonstrations in order to oust the government, which he said was the cause of Lebanon's problems.

'General Aoun's call is a call for violence,' majority MP Ammar Houri was quoted as saying.

However, the head of the board of Lebanese General Federation of Labor Unions, Ghassan Ghosen, affirmed that the strike is still ongoing but stressed that it shall remain peaceful.

'We want a peaceful strike...to call for our legitimate social demands and not use it as a political means,' Ghosen told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The tension has prompted Lebanon's Central Security Council which met in the presence of Interior Minister Hassan al Sabaa to take the what sources called the 'essential security preparations.'