The Lebanese Army will use force if necessary to disarm gunmen and restore law and order from 6 a.m. Tuesday (0300 GMT), following six days of fierce internal fighting, local Naharnet news website reported on Tuesday.
"Army units will stop any violation in accordance with the law, even if this means using force," an army statement on late Monday was quoted as saying.
The army, in its statement, urged all factions to cooperate with its soldiers to guarantee security for everyone.
Following clashes mainly in Beirut and the mountainous areas between pro-government and opposition gunmen, the army deployed inzones of tension.
The army took over several positions of the predominantly Druze mountain areas southeast of Beirut Monday, following fierce clashes over the weekend. Opposition gunmen pulled out of west Beirut Saturday after the army controlled the tension zones.
Violence erupted last Wednesday, one day after the Lebanese cabinet decided to cease the private communication network of Hezbollah, and remove airport security chief Gen. Wafik Shqaier for alleged links to Hezbollah.
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, 2007 when ex-President Emile Lahoud ended his term.
Source:Xinhua
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