Protesters from the Hezbollah-led opposition clashed with supporters of Lebanon's U.S.-backed government Wednesday as a strike by the Shiite militant group paralyzed large parts of Beirut.
Explosions and gunfire rang out across Lebanon's capital. The cause of the explosions was not immediately known and there was no word on casualties.
The violence deepened tensions in a country already mired in a 17-month-old political crisis pitting the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah against the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. The troubles have left the country without a president since November.
Labor unions had called for the strike after rejecting a last-minute pay raise offer by the government. Instead, it turned into a showdown between Hezbollah and the government.
Spy cameras?
The clashes took place a day after the government accused Hezbollah of violating the country's sovereignty by operating its own telecommunications network and installing spy cameras at Beirut airport.
The violence began when government and opposition supporters in a Muslim sector of Beirut exchanged insults and began throwing stones at each other. Witnesses said security forces intervened and gunshots were heard, apparently troops firing in the air to disperse the crowds.
A cameraman for Hezbollah's al-Manar television was beaten by a soldier, the station reported. The state-run National News Agency reported that he was struck in the forehead during the clash.
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, piles of earth, old cars and garbage cans to protest against government economic policies and demand pay raises.
Flights delayed
The protests and labor strike paralyzed Beirut's airport.
Employees stopped working for six hours and flights were delayed or canceled while opposition protesters blocked roads to the country's only air facility.
Lebanon's political crisis took a turn for the worse this week when the government's Cabinet on Tuesday said it would remove Beirut airport's security chief over alleged ties to Hezbollah.
The government also declared that a telecommunications network used by Hezbollah for military purposes was illegal and a danger to state security.
Hezbollah and Shiite leaders rejected the government's decisions, raising tensions ahead of the planned labor strike.
Hezbollah is listed as a terrorist group by the United States. It has fought Israel for more than two decades, most recently in the 2006 war, and enjoys wide support among Lebanon's 1.2 million Shiites, believed to be the country's largest sect.
Political crisis
The political crisis has exacerbated the country's economic problems. Rising oil prices and a weakening U.S. dollar, the favored currency here, have driven up the cost of living.
Just as the country is divided politically into opposition and pro-government camps, the unions were split as well on whether to support the strike. In Shiite sectors of the city where Hezbollah support is high, the strike was widely observed, with most businesses closed and streets empty.
In areas where government support is strong, some businesses were open but many people stayed off the streets and traffic was lighter than usual amid a heavy army presence.
The U.S. Embassy advised Americans to avoid areas where protests were going, to take "reasonable" security precautions and maintain a low profile in public.
Tension between the government and Hezbollah escalated sharply on Tuesday when the cabinet said group's communication network was "an attack on the sovereignty of the state".
Hezbollah said network was part of its security apparatus and had played a major role in its war with Israel in 2006.
'Armed and angry'
Provoked by the government's move, Hezbollah was "flexing its muscles" in the streets, said Oussama Safa, director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. "The heat has been turned up," he said, adding that there was scope for violence.
"But it's probably not going to unfold into war. A confrontation is not winnable," he said.
"Things could get very ugly, but I don't think they will spread out of hand," added Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "Everyone is armed and angry."
Hezbollah was the only Lebanese faction allowed to keep its weapons after the civil war to fight Israeli forces occupying the south. Israel withdrew in 2000 and the fate of Hezbollah's weapons is at the heart of the political crisis.
A U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel bans the group from rearming and rebuilding its military infrastructure in south Lebanon.
Governing coalition leaders allege Hezbollah is spying on the airport to monitor their movements. Eight members of the anti-Syrian coalition have been assassinated since 2005.
