Beirut 'war' with Hezbollah

ITN - Thursday, May 8 11:49 pm

Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah has accused the US-backed Beirut government of declaring war on its supporters.

Explosions and gunfire rocked the capital after the radical faction - supported by Syria and Iran - took to the streets when the country's pro-Western government declared it illegal.

At least eight people were killed and 16 injured after Hezbollah and pro-government militants fought with guns, grenades and rockets.

Hezbollah supporters blocked roads leading to Beirut's airport and other main streets, paralysing much of the city.

Pro-government activists blocked a highway linking Beirut to the south with burning tyres and set up a barricade on the main road to the border with Hezbollah's ally Syria.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called the government's move to outlaw the group and disable its private telecommunications network "a declaration of war and the launching of war by the government against the resistance and its weapons for the benefit of America and Israel".

The Islamists reportedly turned down an offer of a deal to end the crisis suggested by the leader of the governing coalition Saad al-Hariri.

There are fears the conflict between Hezbollah, traditionally supported by Shia Muslims from south Lebanon, and government loyalists from the Sunni north, could trigger wider sectarian violence.

Hezbollah fought a guerrilla war against Israeli occupiers until 2000, when the Jewish state pulled its troops out of Lebanon, and the group was allowed to keep its weapons.

The so-called Cedar Revolution saw Syrian troops pull out of the country in 2005 after a wave of demonstrations, but Hezbollah immediately launched a political campaign against the new anti-Syrian cabinet.

The ensuing crisis has paralysed the government and left Lebanon without a president for five months.

Newspaper columnist Rafik Khouri said: "It's double jeopardy: the cabinet can't retreat or it is practically finished and can't go through with it to the end because of the balance of power on the ground.

"And Hezbollah can't step back from its position because it would be agreeing to getting its wings clipped and can't go all the way because of the dangers sectarian strife poses for everyone."

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