Machine gun-fire and explosions could be heard coming from West Beirut, where masked gunmen were seen standing on street corners, occasionally opening fire with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. No clashes were reported in predominantly Christian East Beirut. At least five people have been killed in fierce fighting between supporters of Lebanon’s government and the opposition in Beirut, officials say. Television showed gunmen firing rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in central and southern areas of the city.
After the news conference, Hezbollah‘s leader Sheikh Nasrallah, says a Lebanese government decision to declare the telecommunications network illegal amounts to a declaration of war. Those Cabinet decisions sparked two days of sectarian clashes between Hezbollah and government supporters. "The decision is tantamount to a declaration of war … on the resistance and its weapons in the interest of America and Israel," Hassan Nasrallah said in a news conference aired live on television Thursday. "We are now embarking on a totally new era," he told a news conference in Beirut. He offered a way out of the latest crisis, saying the "illegitimate" government must revoke its decisions against Hezbollah. Hezbollah runs its own secure network of primitive private land lines. Nasrallah confirmed the network was essential for the fight Israel’s high-tech army in the 2006 summer war. He said the telecommunications network was "the most important part of the weapons of the resistance" and added Hezbollah had a duty to defend those weapons. He and other Hezbollah leaders have suggested they are regularly targeted by Israel and they need secure communications, and also added this communication line helped a cease-fire in July 2006 War. "I am not declaring war. I am declaring a decision of self-defense," he said. The government has "crossed all the red lines. We will not be lenient with anyone." "Those who try to arrest us, we will arrest them," he said. "Those who shoot at us, we will shoot at them. The hand raised against us, we will cut it off." He said Maj. Gen. Wafiq Shukeir, the airport security chief that the government decided to remove, will stay in his post, rejecting any replacement. Sheikh Nasrallah criticised the suspension of the head of security at Beirut airport, Brig Gen Wafiq Shuqeir, because of his alleged closeness to Hezbollah. The government also accused him of failing to deal with a secret camera allegedly set up by Hezbollah to monitor the movement of aircraft and VIPs. But Sheikh Nasrallah insisted Gen Shuqeir was not a member of any opposition group, merely a neutral member of the armed forces. The Hezbollah leader’s remarks came after the people of Beirut awoke for the second day running to find their city largely brought to a halt by roadblocks of burning tyres and bulldozed earthworks.
Lebanese governing coalition leader Saad al-Hariri appearing to row back on government decisions which the group had viewed as a declaration of war. After the speech Of Hezbollah Leader, Hariri stated that he would consider the government decisions a "misunderstanding". He was referring to a cabinet decision this week to declare illegal Hezbollah’s communications network and remove the head of airport security, who is close to the group, from his post. Hezbollah says the communications network is part of its military infrastructure but before any steps taken would like a direct election of the vacant seat of Presidency and then they could resume dialogue. Hariri added "This is a crime that must stop immediately. We will not accept for Beirut to kneel before anyone. Beirut will not kneel," he added. Hariri said Hezbollah had "misinterpreted" the government’s decision earlier this week to probe a private communications network set up by the group and to reassign the airport security chief over allegations he was close to Hezbollah. He said the measures were aimed at protecting the army and did not target Hezbollah. Hariri said the two decisions should be put in the hands of the army, which both sides see as a neutral institution. Hariri also urged the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran, to agree to the immediate election of consenus candidate and army chief Michel Sleiman as president and to engage in an national dialogue under the auspices of the new president. "The Sunni-Shiite dissension has already been ignited and we must put out the fire," Hariri said.
General Aoun, suggested for an immediate debate and understanding between all parties and hoped for a cease-fire and described the violence and riots as politically motivated and not a Sunnite Shiite clash, "This is not a sectarian dispute, it is political," Aoun said. Aoun praised the role of the army, and said "The army has been playing a proper role and should intervene in the event the fight is one sided." Aoun defended Hezbollah and placed the blame on the government triggering these events, urging them to surrender to Hezbollah’s demands by revoking prior decisions. Aoun added that blocking the road to Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport was the result of Lebanon’s deepening economic crisis and called on the government to revoke its latest decisions.
On the other hand Progressive socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt called Hezbollah leader’s comments "silly". He said Hezbollah made a big deal over the government decision. He added, "I didn’t know General Shuqair is so important to disrupt the lives of the Lebanese and destroy the country."Jumblatt added: "Lebanon is much more important than my party or Hezbollah."
Hizbullah’s paramilitary infrastructure across Lebanon contributes to the erosion of the state’s monopoly on the use of force and represents a "threat to regional peace," a U.N. envoy warned Thursday. U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Roed Larsen told the Security Council that Hizbullah "maintains a massive paramilitary infrastructure separate from the state." He added that this had "an adverse effect" on the Lebanese government’s monopoly on the use of force and "constitutes a threat to regional peace and security." Briefing the 15-member council on Hizbullah’s anti-government protests over the past two days, Roed Larsen said "these developments give rise to growing fears among the Lebanese that Hizbullah is building parallel institutional structures distinct from, and in competition with, those of the state." "It is believed that this contributes to the erosion of the state’s institutions of its monopoly on the use of force," he added. Roed Larsen said the government had informed the United Nations that Hizbullah had its own, separate, secure communication network which "connects to a Syrian network beyond the border." Hizbullah argues it needs its arsenal to deter Israeli attacks. The White House on Thursday demanded that Hizbullah "stop their disruptive activities" as fierce gunbattles raged in Beirut. "Hizbullah needs to make a choice: Be a terrorist organization or be a political party, but quit trying to be both. They need to stop their disruptive activities now," said U.S. national security council spokesman Gordon Johndroe. U.S. President George Bush looks forward to discussing Lebanon’s political crisis when he meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora next week at Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh, said Johndroe.
A careful analysis of what Nasrallah and Hariri both said suggests that they are speaking the same language that has always defined Lebanese politics and politicians: Act tough, show that you are a real man who is prepared to fight, and then offer a deal in which nobody loses face, manhood, or their privileged access to shared incumbency and the assets of statehood. Hariri’s specific offer in reply to Nasrallah’s suggestions seems reasonable, and in line with what Nasrallah said he had told the Iranian ambassador: that we can find a solution to this problem. The points each man made – basically to review the government’s two controversial decisions and immediately restart the national dialogue – indicate a middle ground where the concerns of all parties can be taken into account. The fact that all agree on General Michael Suleiman as the next president is also a good sign. The question is not whether these and other political leaders in Lebanon will ultimately agree on a comprehensive compromise that they can live with. That is as certain as the breeze. The unknown factor is only about how much more suffering, death and political mediocrity all Lebanon must suffer before the politicians actually make the compromises. Their commitment to the discipline of a purposeful and practical national dialogue remains unclear. Both major camps engaged in a fruitless dialogue two years ago, and there are few signs that they would do any better now.
Clashes between government supporters and the opposition escalated in Lebanon on Thursday, with gunfights in several parts of the country, roads blocked and the international airport virtually shut down. At least eight people were reported wounded in the east and the north as a general strike took on a sectarian tone, pitting mainly Sunni Muslim supporters of the government against Shiite followers of the opposition. All eyes were on Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who hold a rare news conference via video link later in the afternoon in response to government moves against his militant group.The army and riot police spread out in Beirut while many schools and businesses in the capital remained shut for the second straight day. The army command warned that "if this situation continues, everyone will lose and this will affect the unity of the military." Armed men, some hooded or masked, were seen in several mixed Sunni and Shiite neighbourhoods. In a tersely worded statement, the army command warned that "if this situation continues, everyone will lose and this will affect the unity of the military." And newspapers drew parallels with the lead-up to the devastating 1975-1990 civil war. Troops and riot police spread out in Beirut, with many schools and businesses remaining shut for a second straight day. Armed men, some hooded or masked, were seen in several mixed Sunni and Shiite neighbourhoods.
Protesters burned tyres and lit fires inside large metal rubbish bins along the airport road, which remained blocked by large mounds of earth dumped by Hezbollah supporters on Wednesday when a strike over wages degenerated into sectarian violence. An airport official told AFP that all incoming and outgoing flights had been cancelled until at least 4:00 pm (1300 GMT), but it was unclear whether normal traffic would resume after that. One flight to London did leave Beirut early on Thursday. Government loyalists burned tyres and set up road blocks along various point of the main highway in the east of the country leading to Syria, forcing travellers to find alternate routes, an AFP correspondent witnessed. Five people were wounded, four of them women, a security official in the eastern town of Chtaura told AFP.
Three people were also wounded in the northern city of Tripoli in a shootout between rival factions. The highway between the capital and the southern coastal city of Sidon was also closed by government supporters who burned tyres and dumped piles of earth on the road. The road blocks by the government loyalists appeared to be in response to the shutdown of the airport by the opposition. An official with the opposition movement Amal warned that the situation could get out of hand, and accused the majority of pushing the country toward a civil war. "It is clear the majority is seeking an escalation and wants to push the country toward a civil war," the official, who did not want to be named, told AFP. "What we are trying to do is calm down the situation."
The Lebanese army command issued a call for calm, saying that if the violence continued it would affect the unity of the military. Saudi Arabia warned the opposition against an escalation of the situation. "The kingdom urges the groups behind the escalation to reconsider their position, and to realise that leading Lebanon towards turmoil will not bring victory to any party except extremist external forces," the state news agency SPA quoted an official as saying. The opposition has vowed to keep up the protests until the government cancels decisions taken earlier in the week. On Tuesday the government said it was launching a probe into a private telephone network set up by Hezbollah, and accused the group of placing surveillance cameras around the airport to monitor the comings and goings of pro-government politicians. The cabinet also reassigned the head of airport security over allegations that he was close to Hezbollah. The clashes erupted on Wednesday during what was supposed to be a general strike called by the main labour union over price increases and wage demands.
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By GHASSAN SOOUD, BEIRUT, May 7, 2008 (MENASSAT) 
At least 10 people, including two soldiers, were injured on Wednesday after a General Labor Confederation (GLC) strike which was meant to protest the government’s economic policies turned violent, leading to the blocking of roads and armed clashes in several parts of Beirut. One of the roads blocked by protesters was the main artery to the capital’s international airport, causing dozens of flights to be delayed or cancelled. Three arrivals came in in the early afternoon, but a statement from the national carrier, Middle East Airlines, announced that all departures between midnight Wednesday and noon Thursday had been scrubbed. About 200 passengers were stranded at the airport by early evening, an aviation source told AFP. Some arriving travelers could be seen walking outside the airport, past burning tires and mounds of earth, as they tried to make their way home. Security sources told The Daily Star that in addition to the berms, opposition supporters have started setting up tents in the vicinity of the airport in a bid to stage an open sit-in similar to the one in place in Downtown Beirut since December 2006. The 10 people were injured during clashes between Hizbullah and Amal supporters and pro-government Future Movement supporters in the Beirut areas of Corniche al-Mazraa, Ras al-Nabeh, Wata al-Mosseitbeh, Cola, and others. The security sources also said that a Future Movement office in the Ras al-Nabeh neighborhood was hit by several rocket-propelled grenades. Three Future supporters were injured as a result of the attack. However, Hizbullah’s Al-Manar television accused militants affiliated with the Future Movement of hiding in the office and opening fire on demonstrators, adding that army soldiers broke into the office and arrested the militants.
A soldier was hit in the mouth by a stone and two other news photographers also were hurt by stones, according to witnesses and television reports. Earlier in the same area, a stun grenade thrown into a crowd lightly injured three protesters and two soldiers, the state news agency reported. It was not immediately clear who threw the grenade. The clashes spread to several mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods, with Sunnis backing the government and Shiites supporting the opposition. Armed civilians appeared on some streets.Troop reinforcements raced in armored carriers from one neighborhood to another to contain the disturbances. Around the city, protesters blocked roads with burning tires, dirt, old cars and garbage cans to protest against government economic policies and demand pay raises.
RTTNews) – Lebanon’s government said on Tuesday that it would close down the telecommunications network used by Hezbollah for military purposes, as it was illegal and a danger to state security.Hezbollah argues that the telecommunication network is an integral part of its armory to fight Israelis. It says that the telecom network was used extensively in the group’s war against Israel in 2006, which lasted over 3 months. Though Hezbollah maintains that its arsenal will only be used to defend against Israeli attacks, the Lebanese government sees the group’s paramilitary capacity as a threat to its own authority and has consistently called on the Hezbollah to disarm. 
BEIRUT, May 2 – Profits at Lebanon’s largest company Solidere for this year should remain near 2007 levels of $22 million, although political instability remains a threat, the company’s general manager said on Friday.The profits are likely to match last year’s levels. The political situation remains tense but no ongoing project in central Beirut has been cancelled," Mounir Doueidi told the Arab Economic Forum, a business gathering, in the Lebanese capital.
EARTHtimes – Beirut – Three Iranians and a Lebanese man who reside in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a hotbed of Hezbollah militant activity, were arrested last week on charges of monitoring the residence of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, security sources said Friday. Geagea’s home is in Meerab, northeast of Beirut. The sources said the four men were spotted in a rented car near Geagea’s residence last week. Upon checking the plate number of the red-painted car it was found owned by a car rental company based in south Beirut and it had been rented to three Iranians and a Lebanese man. Police interrogated the four who claimed to have lost their way as they were on a trip along the "Jesus Trail" and ended up in Meerab. The four were set free, but due to contradictions in their testimonies, a judicial source said they might be interrogated again. The sources said the interrogators were wondering how two of the arrested claim they do not speak Arabic while they go to an Arab university, where courses are taught in Arabic. 
