Lebanon anti-government protests turn violent

By Jocelyne Zablit AFP - Wednesday, May 7 08:45 pm

BEIRUT (AFP) - A strike over wage demands degenerated into violence in the Lebanese capital on Wednesday as anti-government protesters clashed with ruling coalition supporters, sparking fears of civil unrest.

Militants loyal to the Hezbollah-led opposition blocked several roads with blazing tyres and dumped dirt along the main road leading to Beirut international airport.

Gunfire, meanwhile, erupted in several neighbourhoods of the capital as armed supporters of the Western-backed ruling bloc and the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran, faced off.

A security official told AFP that about 10 people, including two soldiers, were slightly injured.

Anti-riot police and the army were out in force throughout the capital blocking some roads to prevent the clashes from escalating.

Air traffic was disrupted with flights delayed or cancelled and about 200 passengers stranded at the airport by early evening, an aviation source told AFP.

Some arriving travellers could be seen walking outside the airport, past burning tyres and mounds of earth, as they tried to make their way home. Several airlines cancelled flights for Thursday because of the situation and the inability of passengers to reach the airport.

The violence marked a serious escalation in the country's prolonged political crisis, which has left Lebanon without a president since November.

It came a day after the government decided to reassign the head of airport security over allegations he was close to Hezbollah and aware of surveillance cameras the group has set up near the airport, allegedly to monitor the comings and goings of anti-Syrian politicians and foreign dignitaries.

The government also launched a probe into a communication network set up by Hezbollah, describing it as a threat to the state's sovereignty.

Hezbollah has justified the network as part of its resistance struggle against Israel and the group's chief Hassan Nasrallah is due to speak on the issue at a press conference on Thursday.

An opposition official told AFP that the protests would continue until the government goes back on its decisions against the Shiite militant group.

"The protests will continue in the form of civil disobedience until the government revokes its recent anti-Hezbollah decisions," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television reported that the protesters planned to set up tents along the airport road to push the government to back down on its decisions.

A government official who did not want to be named blasted Hezbollah's actions saying they amounted to an attempt to overthrow the government.

"What is happening has nothing to do with civil disobedience. We are talking about armed disobedience by Hezbollah which wants to take over power," he charged.

He added that the government had reports that Hezbollah was busing in armed militants to the city centre, just outside the government's headquarters, where the opposition has set up a tent city and been holding a sit-in since December 2006.

Lebanon's top Sunni cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, accused Hezbollah of seeking to dominate the country and warned against inter-religious clashes.

"Lebanon is facing an attempt by Hezbollah towards hegemony with the backing of external forces," he said, in an apparent allusion to to Iran. "I urge Hezbollah to remove its armed militants from Beirut and to put an end to the sit-in."

Many schools and businesses in the capital stayed shut on Wednesday, and were expected to remain so on Thursday.

A demonstration due to be held by trade unionists over price increases and wage demands was cancelled as few people were able to reach the main gathering point.

The industrial action, backed by the opposition, was called by the General Confederation of Labour Unions (CGTL) to press the government to raise the monthly minimum wage which had been unchanged since 1996.

Although the cabinet on Tuesday, on the eve of the protest action, agreed to a 130-dollar a month increase to 330 dollars, the CGTL said it was insufficient.

The federation is demanding that the minimum wage be increased to 600 dollars but the government has baulked at such a rise, and Finance Minister Jihad Azour said it could lead to rampant inflation.

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