PRO-GOVERNMENT Sunni Muslim gunmen fought militiamen allied to Hezbollah in the northern city of Tripoli yesterday, in further violence that has already dismantled the balance of power in Lebanon.
The upheaval, which began when Hezbollah and its allies overran the strongholds of their Sunni political foes in Beirut last week, has recalled memories of the 1975-90 civil war.
Six people were wounded in sporadic gun battles between Sunni fighte
rs in Tripoli's Bab Tebbaneh area and pro-Hezbollah Alawites in neighbouring Jebel Mohsen.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas and their pro-Syrian allies have swept through Beirut and hills to the east in a series of dramatic victories since 7 May, defeating loyalists of the US-backed government before handing their conquests to the Lebanese army, which has stayed out of the fighting.
At least 36 people were killed on Sunday in fighting between Hezbollah and its pro-government Druze opponents east of Beirut, bringing the overall toll to 81 dead and about 250 wounded.
Hezbollah's success has dealt a severe blow to the ruling Sunni-led coalition and its American patron, which has cast Lebanon as a fragile democracy endangered by the ambitions of Hezbollah.
"We are very disappointed in what's been happening, very concerned by it, and the president, you can bet, is going to be talking about this while he's on his trip," said Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman, referring to this week's visit to the Middle East by George Bush. She said Mr Bush had not changed his plans to meet Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, in Egypt on Sunday.
"We believe that the Lebanese deserve to have the democracy that they asked for and the one that they voted for," she added.
Hezbollah fought the 2005 poll in an electoral alliance with the ruling coalition parties, although their agreement later broke down.
A precarious calm prevailed in Beirut, where politicians prepared to meet Arab League mediators. "What has been happening is negotiations by fire," a source said. "Now everyone is waiting for the Arab committee to come for the political negotiations to start."
Britain and Germany issued statements backing the Arab League mediation and endorsing Mr Siniora's government.
So far such western and Saudi support has done nothing to deter Hezbollah from exposing the military weakness of its foes, such as the Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri and the Druze chief Walid Jumblatt, whose mountain fiefdom was attacked on Sunday.
One source said 14 Hezbollah fighters were among the dead in those battles. Hezbollah-led forces overran several posts held by Mr Jumblatt's gunmen in the Aley district east of Beirut before the Druze leader agreed to hand them over to the army.
Swallowing his pride, Mr Jumblatt had authorised Talal Arsalan, a rival Syrian-backed Druze leader, to mediate with Hezbollah.
While Mr Hariri, Mr Jumblatt and their Christian allies have retracted the moves that sparked Hezbollah's ferocious reaction – outlawing its communications network and sacking the airport security chief – they have yet to concede political ground.
The full article contains 508 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
