Uneasy Calm After Hizbullah Seizes Control of West Beirut - With Video
An uneasy calm settled over west Beirut on Saturday, a day after Hizbullah gunmen seized control of large swaths of the predominantly Sunni sector of the Lebanese capital.
Traffic and the sound of car horns resumed in neighborhoods that had been largely deserted since Thursday, and cleaning crews cleared the debris from streets, some littered with bullet casings.
“This is the first time I leave my home since Thursday night,” said Samia, as she walked to work at a bank in the Hamra district. “But I think this calm is only temporary.”
The army was still out in full force and some streets remained blocked.
At least 15 people were reported killed around Lebanon since Wednesday — the worst sectarian bloodshed since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The unrest led to urgent international appeals for calm as Arab foreign ministers prepared to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis on Sunday amid regional Sunni Muslim fears about Shiite Iran’s influence in Lebanon.
An Nahar daily on Saturday quoted an official source as saying “Hizbullah has staged a coup in Beirut similar to Hamas’ coup in Gaza.”
On Friday, the pro-government March 14 forces accused Hizbullah of attempting a coup so Syria and Iran can control Lebanon.
“Violence will not terrorize us, but it will increase our resolve,” Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said after the meeting of the coalition’s members at his residence in Maarab.
He said the Shiite group launched “an armed coup… that is counter to the constitution… and democratic principles.”
Hizbullah gunmen celebrated on Friday by firing into the air and flashing victory signs as they drove in convoys around west Beirut.
Violence also spread to Aramoun, Sidon, Aley and the Bekaa valley where seven people were killed and 22 wounded, according to An Nahar.
(AFP-AP-Naharnet)
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No vid
May 10th, 2008 at 3:55 amheheh…there it is
May 10th, 2008 at 3:56 amThe government needs to take back control of that damn country. get rid of hezbollah and cut Irans nose off in the process
May 10th, 2008 at 6:23 amHmmm…so what kind of weapons are being flown into the Hizzies? Long-range missiles for the comming attacks on Israel? Maybe putting their missile batteries in range of Syrian cover in order to make it more difficult for the IDF to hit them without killing innocent civilians or puuting their aircraft at risk from Syrian AA???
There’s an end-game going on here. Hiz-bullshitta needs a large base of operations with an airport, and secured supply lines.
A power-grab or coup is icing on the cake.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:30 amSounds like the calm of force-imposed fear…
Well no shit genius… that’s what Islam is all about… Mo’s way or the highway, democracy be damned. How dare you think that you can live your life the way YOU want to…
As Trent says “Bow down before the ones you serve, you’re going to get what you deserve”…
May 10th, 2008 at 6:49 am