FIERCE clashes raged in Beirut yesterday after the Iranian-backed Hezbollah said the United States-supported Lebanese government had declared war by targeting its communications network.
Fighters from Hezbollah and the allied Amal group exchanged assault rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades with pro-government gunmen in several areas of the capital in the worst domestic fighting since the 1975-90 civil war.
Hezbollah launched
a new street campaign on Wednesday, piling pressure on the government after it declared the network illegal and removed the head of airport security, a figure close to the group, from his post.
Supporters of Hezbollah and its allies have blocked roads leading to the airport – Lebanon's only air link to the outside world – and other main streets, paralysing much of the capital.
The fighting in Beirut erupted minutes after the Hezbollah chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, told a news conference the only way out of the crisis was for the government to rescind the decisions and to attend talks aiming to end a 17-month-long political conflict with the Hezbollah-led opposition.
"This decision is first of all a declaration of war and the launching of war by the government… against the resistance and its weapons for the benefit of America and Israel," Nasrallah said.
"We will cut the hand that targets the weapons of the resistance… Today is the day to fulfil this decision."
The full article contains 241 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
