BEIRUT (AFP) –
Twenty people were injured in street clashes between rival political factions in Beirut, which saw shops and cars set ablaze as rioters fought each other with stones and clubs. "Eighteen people were wounded by stones and baton blows and two
others were lightly wounded from shots fired during the clashes," a
senior security official told AFP on Sunday. Soldiers and police were out on patrol on Sunday in the Ras al-Nabah
district where the fighting took place but the situation was calm.

The army issued a statement calling on all Lebanese not to take part in
such gatherings which "each time end in arrests being made," but it did
not say how many people were detained on Saturday. Similar clashes in recent days between supporters of the Western-backed
government and the Shiite-led opposition have raised tensions in a
country already embroiled in its worst political crisis since the
1975-1990 civil war. The security official had said the fighting involved supporters of
ruling majority leader Saad Hariri and rivals in the opposition Shiite
movement Amal, whose leader is parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

But an Amal spokesman denied that its supporters were involved.

Deep divisions have emerged as Lebanon grapples with a protracted political crisis that has left it without a head of state since the end of November.

On Thursday, mass rallies were staged by rival pro- and anti-Syrian factions in Beirut, further ratcheting up the tensions.

Supporters of the Western-backed government had massed to commemorate
the third anniversary of the assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri
while thousands gathered just a few miles away for the funeral of Imad
Mughnieh, one of Hezbollah‘s top commanders killed in a car bombing in Syria.

BEIRUT (Reuters) –
Lebanese soldiers deployed in several
mixed Sunni-Shi’ite streets of Beirut on Saturday and ended
sectarian riots that left at least 14 people injured and
several cars and shops smashed.

Security sources said followers of Sunni Muslim Saad
al-Hariri‘s Future Trend movement battled supporters of the
Shi’ite Hezbollah and Amal groups with sticks, knives and
stones in Ras al-Nabei, Mazraa and Barboor areas of Beirut.

It was not clear what sparked the night-time clashes but
tension has been simmering for weeks. Smaller incidents have
been reported almost on daily basis.

Hariri’s anti-Syrian ruling coalition is locked in a
15-month-old power struggle against an opposition led by
Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran.

The political crisis has left Lebanon without a president
since November. It has spilled into deadly street clashes on
several occasions over the past year. Last month seven Shi’ite
protesters were shot dead, mainly by Lebanese troops.

On Saturday, scores of Lebanese soldiers fired into the air
to disperse rioters from both sides. At least 14 people, many
with broken bones or cuts, were injured in the fights.

Some media reported both sides exchanged fire in some
places but security sources said most of the shooting was by
troops and into the air.

(Writing by Nadim Ladki; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)