Three killed, 54 wounded in violence at Beirut college (2nd Roundup)

Jan 25, 2007, 17:35 GMT

Beirut - At least three people were killed and around 54 others wounded Thursday as demonstrators from rival political factions engaged in fights with clubs and rocks outside a university in Beirut.

The violence coincided with reports coming from the French capital that an international donors' conference pledged more than 7.6 billion dollars in aid to bolster the Western-backed government and help the country's ailing economy.

Fistfights broke out earlier Thursday at the Arab University of Beirut between students loyal to opposing factions in Lebanon's current political crisis inside the main campus and then spread out to nearby streets, where demonstrators set fire to dozens of cars, blocked traffic and threw stones at each other.

Hospital sources said at least three people were killed and 54 others were wounded. A source in the Lebanese Army said that 14 of its soldiers had been wounded, including four officers.

The violence erupted between students loyal to the pro-Syrian opposition alliance - led by the Shiite Hezbollah movement - and supporters of the anti-Syrian, Western-backed government.

According to one student, the fighting started when two students 'one loyal to the government and the other to the opposition had an argument inside the campus coffee shop and then it spread into violence.'

As darkness fell, fires from burning tyres lit the night sky and the sound of sporadic gunfire could be heard in the streets of Beirut. Some roads were reopened and people were cautiously venturing out.

The violence Thursday followed widespread unrest earlier in the week during a general strike called by the opposition which also led to the killing of three people and injured more than 100 others.

Tuesday's general strike was staged by the opposition led by Hezbollah and its Christian allies in their nearly two-month-long efforts to topple the government of Prime Minister Fouad Seniora.

The chaos paralysed Lebanon for a day and added to concerns over the stability of a country still bearing the scars of the 1975-1990 civil war.

The student riots turned streets near the Arab University into a battleground as young men wearing red and blue helmets were seen carrying sticks and setting dozens of cars ablaze.

'They are from the opposition. They were prepared for this. They had helmets and sticks,' a wounded student inside an ambulance said.

The students also brought tyres and blocked the streets leading to the university.

Army troops, who were keeping even journalists away, fired into the air to disperse the crowd.

Soldiers chased the students, who were smashing car windows and hurling stones, as thick columns of black smoke rose into the air from the blazing rubber.

The army cordoned off the area after the clashes erupted in a southern sector of the capital which has a mixed Sunni and Shiite population and which was the scene of similar street fights on Tuesday.

'This is not acceptable. The residents of this capital are being terrorized. We want an end to this conflict,' a woman running in the street said.

'Up till now the army has not managed to contain the fighting, and the sound of machine-gun fire has been heard in the area,' an eyewitness told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Troops backed by armoured personnel carriers were entering the university to evacuate trapped students from the campus.

'Students are stuck inside a school near the Arab University,' a witness said, adding that tensions were high with chaos 'all over the place.'

The Lebanese State University announced the closure of all its faculties across the country.

Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian majority in the Lebanese parliament, called on his supporters to 'exert self-restraint,' adding the continued violence was 'a way to sabotage the very positive results of the donors' conference for Lebanon (meeting Thursday) in Paris.'

The pro-Syrian groups Amal and Hezbollah called on their followers to leave 'the streets immediately.'

'We are witnessing scenes that remind us of the civil war,' said pro-Syrian parliament speaker Nabih Berri, urging restraint on both sides. 'We must go back to talks. There is no other solution.'