Lebanon is treading on eggs as fears about another civil war rises after riots in Beirut left at least eight people dead and 40 others injured.
GUNBATTLES SWEEP BEIRUT
The sectarian fighting between anti and pro-government supporters in Beirut entered the third day on Friday. The crackle of gunfire and sporadic bursts of rocket-propelled grenade echoed in many districts of Beirut.
At least eight people were killed and 40 others wounded during the fighting, security sources told Xinhua anonymously on Friday.
Lebanese Al Mustaqbal (Future) TV, mouthpiece of majority leader MP Saad Hariri's Future Movement, stopped local and cable broadcasting Friday morning after opposition gunmen siege the station and then turned it over to the Lebanese army.
Meanwhile, Al Mustaqbal newspaper building in Ramlet al-Baida, southwestern Beirut, was attacked with rockets and automatic gunfire at dawn Friday.
An RPG rocket fell on the residence of Hariri in western Beirutas clashes broke out at the entrance of the residence. But there was no word whether Hariri was at the palace at the time of the attack.
Hezbollah gunmen heavily deployed in Beirut, particularly in districts of Hamra, Karakol Druze, Raouche, Mulla, Talet el-Khayat, Zaidaniyeh, Ras Nabaa, Basta Zoqaq Blat and Nweiri.
Local press said that Hezbollah gunmen seized nearly all of the Beirut's Muslim sector from pro-government militants.
FOREIGN EMBASSIES BEGIN EVAGUATING CITIZENS
As the security situation worsened in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait began evacuating its nationals from Lebanon.
Kuwaiti Embassy in Lebanon evacuated the first batch of its nationals residing or studying in troubled Lebanon by land to neighboring Syria on Friday, local New TV reported.
It added that up to 150 Kuwaiti citizens, including 30 students, boarded large buses heading toward the Lebanese-Syrian border.
On Thursday, a total of 70 Saudis were evacuated by Saudi Embassy via Syria too, said the report, adding that more were having arrangement Friday with the embassy to leave.
The Saudi embassy sent SMS messages to Saudi citizen, telling them to contact the embassy for evacuation, it said.
STILL NO DEAL REACHED BETWEEN RIVAL BLOCS
Lebanon is facing the most complicated political crisis since 1975-1990 civil war. Lebanese political rival groups were unable to achieve a breakthrough to elect a new president for the country, which has been without a president since Nov. 24 when ex-president Lahoud ended his term.
The tension boiled to deadly clashes after Lebanese government on Tuesday declared the group's telecommunications network illegal and a threat to state security.
The cabinet also decided to dismiss the security chief of the country's only international airport Wafik Shqaier over his alleged links to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday that the government made a "declaration of war" which he said would be confronted in "self defense."
Saad Hariri called Thursday Hezbollah to remove the siege off Beirut, open the airport and pull out gunmen from the streets to preserve "the unity of the Muslims."
Hariri proposed a solution for the current crisis including: putting the two decisions of the cabinet in the custody of the Lebanese army; withdrawing all gunmen from the streets; electing immediately Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as president; starting national dialogue under sponsorship of Gen. Michel Suleiman.
However, local Naharnet news website reported on Friday that Hezbollah rejected Hariri's suggestions.
Source: Xinhua
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