Walking Dead

Gunbattles break out in Beirut - CNN.com

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Gunfire broke out in downtown Beirut Thursday after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said recent government actions amount to "a declaration of open war."


Government loyalists add tires to a burning barricade Thursday outside Beirut, Lebanon.

"Just in the past few minutes ... things have gotten a lot worse," CNN's Cal Perry reported from downtown Beirut. The sound of automatic gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades could be heard throughout his live reports.

Perry, who took cover with the Lebanese army, said government forces have not yet reacted to the violence.

The gunbattles were taking place between Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods in the capital, near CNN's Beirut Bureau. Watch Perry call in through gunfire »

The Lebanese army, which is charged with trying to keep peace in the capital, is in a precarious position, Perry explained.

"When you're talking about this much gunfire, when you're talking about RPG fire, it's absolutely ludicrous to think that the army will put themselves between these two factions," he said.

Video of the scene showed tanks and armored personnel carriers moving through empty streets past shuttered stores.

The violence erupted shortly after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the government's attempts to halt Hezbollah's use of a telecommunications system amounts to "a declaration of open war."

"We believe the war has started and we believe that we have the right to defend ourselves," Nasrallah said in a televised speech. "We will cut the hand that will reach out to the weapons of the resistance no matter if it comes from the inside or the outside."

At the same time, Nasrallah called for dialogue, saying, "We are ready, whoever wants a compromise, we are here and ready."

"Those who have taken decisions leading to war, let them withdraw their decisions and there would be no war," he said.

"Am I declaring war? Not at all. I am declaring oppression and self-defense."

Lebanese Communications Minister Marwan Hamadi said Nasrallah's speech "is a direct threat of assassinating us."

"We are not scared of the threat," Hamadi told al-Arabiya. " 'Cutting off the hands' is a direct threat of assassination.

"He says it is a new phase; we say it is a new phase, too. We are determined to keep what is left of the Lebanese government."

Many Lebanese politicians who have opposed Syria's influence in their country have been assassinated in recent years, including former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and four members of parliament.

The latest tensions between Lebanon's U.S.-backed government and Hezbollah were sparked Monday when the government sacked airport security chief Brig. Gen. Wafik Shoukeir. Watch what touched off the fighting »

The government believes Hezbollah was using the equipment to keep tabs on the movement of its opponents in the government.

Nasrallah defended Hezbollah's use of the monitoring equipment, saying it is the right of "any militia during war."

"This wired network is the most important weapon in the battle," he said.

Nasrallah accused the government of trying to make the Beirut airport "a base for the CIA, FBI and the Mossad," the Israeli secret police.

"That's why they wanted to suspend Brig. Gen. Wafik Shoukeir. ... They want to bring a loyal subject that will serve them at the airport."

In a rare display of anger toward Hezbollah, the highest Sunni Muslim spiritual authority in Lebanon accused the group of taking advantage of a labor strike on Wednesday by using it as a political opportunity, and of fomenting violence in Beirut.

The strike quickly escalated into a flashpoint over Lebanon's 17-month-old political crisis.

Hezbollah supporters continue to block all the roads leading to Beirut's airport, forcing the cancellation of nearly all flights. Watch soldiers, burned cars in streets »

Gunbattles were reported Thursday in Beirut's seaport district of Corniche al-Mazraa. Tires continued to burn in Beirut, particularly in the downtown area, where a Hezbollah sit-in continues around the government buildings.

There were reports of clashes and gunfire in the Bekaa Valley overnight and Thursday morning.

Clashes in Beirut on Wednesday took on a sectarian tone, between Beirut's Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods.

Hezbollah is a Shiite militant group, backed by Syria and Iran, with political representation in Lebanon's government.

Members of Lebanon's other major Shiite party, Amal, also participated in Wednesday's strike.

Lebanon's political crisis began in late 2006, when Hezbollah pulled several ministers out of the government of U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in an effort to destabilize his government.


The move happened as Siniora's government voted to support an international tribunal to investigate the 2005 killing of Hariri, which U.N. investigators have linked to Syria.

The country has been without a president since Emile Lahoud -- who was pro-Syrian -- left office after his term ended in November and parliament was unable to agree on a replacement.

I wonder how Israel will react. Will this be a precursor for the 3rd Lebanese War?

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Unidentified U.S. Marine: "What does the American public think happens when they tell us to assault a city? Marines don't shoot rainbows out of our a$$e$. We f@$%king kill people."

Johnny W

I can't see Israel moving in right now. The last conflict was too politically damaging.

S-2

Hezbollah (POG) can decide to widen the conflict to suit their needs, if so supported from Syria and Iran.

The Lebanese Army is no match and UNIFIL is probably quite literally hunkered down and crapping huge bricks at the possibility that all hell is right around the corner.

I'm sure the UNIFIL Evac plans are getting a good dusting-off just now.

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"This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski

Walking Dead

I agree, and although I don't consider myself to be some sort of authority on the region - I don't expect Israelis to remain on the sidelines.
I think that Hizballah can use this as a pretext to destabilize the Lebanese government and allow Iran (being its proxy) assert themselves as de facto leaders of Lebanon. Of course this could be an extreme scenario but, considering Hariri's assasination, I don't put past Nasrallah that he may make a bold move to grab the power. Pretty sure Iranians will support this with all their might.

I also, for some reason, think that UNIFL will extract from the area (if needed) rather than mix up in the internal conflict (its not their role, I believe, anyway).

All in all, this only adds to the destabilization of the region. I only hope that if Israel mixes it up with Hizb again, they will play their cards differently.

Castellano

From what I read in the different reports, hell is breaking loose by the hour. This actually looks like is going to escalate all the way to an open civil war. If Hezbollah was interested in backing down, I think they would have done it by now. They started it, and time is running out to calm down now. They can’t afford to be perceived as loosing the challenge. Is not their style.

If my premise is correct, and given that Hezbollah tends to plan well its moves…does this mean that they plan to take Lebanon period?

Iran/Syria want to take Lebanon now? Why? A distraction from the centrifuges?

Or is it that the army’s response has caught them by surprise?

Large parts of the army are controlled by Hezbollah, the moves within the army will tell us a lot in the next few days.

Castellano

Or maybe Iran is stirring things up in Lebanon to compensate for Mahdi Army’s recent defeats in Iraq.

Parihaka

Hazarding a guess I'd say Hezbollah wants full control of the country.

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In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

citanon

Though the Olmert government has its own problems at the moment, Israel seems unlikely to sit this one out if open civil war starts.

lwarmonger

Agreed. If Hezbollah's presence South of the Litani River was unacceptable enough to cause previous clashes, then complete control of Lebanon is totally unacceptable.

bolo121

Israel might feel compelled to move if Hezbollah looks to be winning.. Could we see Israeli airstrikes and limited ground raids soon?

citanon

Well, Hezbollah looks to be winning now as the Lebanese army is doing nothing:

Walking Dead

Hezbollah militias seize West Beirut - CNN.com

It definitely appears that Hezbollah is grabbing control. The government is simply too weak in their will. Lebanese army is useless.

astralis

i wonder why the lebanese army is doing nothing- if foreign-financed state-within-a-state hezbollah is not a threat to national sovereignty, nothing is.

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Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.

-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

S-2

"Hezbollah, a Shiite group also backed by Syria, has been steadily seizing offices of pro-government factions in the predominantly Muslim western half of the city.

Backed by the Shiite Amal group, Hezbollah fighters have been handing control of the offices to the army — which is trying to play a neutral role in the crisis."

That's the key stuff. Who believes that this is occurring- POG fights for a building and returns it to the Lebanese Army, playing a "neutral" role in a battle between the nat'l gov't and a private militia? NEUTRAL?! WTF?

My suspicion is that POG isn't handing ANYTHING over. They know and trust EXACTLY those Lebanese units to whom these offices are captured and then surrendered.

Those units of the Lebanese Army might as well be turncoat rebels if they won't implement the government's will or at least fall on their swords attempting to do so. More than likely they're shia-dominated units and have already been written off as losses by the Christians and Sunnis.

Does anybody remember DRUZE? Wonder what he's up to these days?

tankie

It shows , just who has the power .

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TANKIE , WITHOUT WAX