Fighting rages on in Beirut
The Associated Press
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BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Running gunbattles raged in parts of Beirut on Thursday after the leader of Hezbollah accused Lebanon's Western-backed government of declaring war on his militant Shiite group. At least four people were killed and eight wounded in the capital.
In a grim reminder of Lebanon's devastating 1975-90 civil war, factions threw up roadblocks and checkpoints dividing Beirut into sectarian enclaves on the second day of clashes between Sunni Muslims loyal to the government and Shiite supporters of Hezbollah.
A top Sunni leader went on television urging Hezbollah to pull back its fighters and "save Lebanon from hell." The army, which has stayed out of sectarian political squabbling in the past, did not intervene in the battles.
Hezbollah first blocked roads in Beirut on Wednesday to enforce a strike called by labor unions, but confrontations quickly spread across the city. Fighting intensified minutes after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah made a televised address charging that the government had declared war on his group when it decided this week to shut down Hezbollah's private telecommunications network.
The unrest virtually shut down Lebanon's international airport for a second day and barricades closed major highways.
In peaceful neighborhoods, people jammed into supermarkets rushing to stockpile food.
