Street battles between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in Beirut, two dead
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
BEIRUT, May 21 (AFP): Street battles between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in Beirut overnight left two people dead, a security official said Monday, sparking fears the conflict in Syria is spilling across the border into Lebanon.
"During the night, groups of young men cut off the road in the Tareek el-Jdideh district and street battles followed," the official said, requesting anonymity.
"Two people were killed and 18 were wounded," he said, adding that machineguns had been fired and that the fighting had raged until about 3.00 am (2400 GMT).
An office housing a small pro-Syrian party in Tareek el-Jdideh, a mainly Sunni Muslim neighbourhood of west Beirut, was torched during the clashes and the facade of the building was riddled with bullets, an AFP correspondent said.
Several motorcycles and cars parked on the street below were burned.
The situation had returned to calm Monday morning and students could be seen heading on foot to the nearby Arab University.
Tension however was palpable in the capital where residents fear a repeat of sectarian clashes similar to those that brought the country close to civil war in 2008.
"I've had enough ... of war," said Amal Khattab, a 40-year-old teacher and mother of two who lives on the street where the battles took place. "I can't spend another minute in this country."
The latest fighting erupted hours after reports emerged that army troops had shot dead Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Wahad, a prominent anti-Syria Sunni cleric, when his convoy failed to stop at a checkpoint in north Lebanon on Sunday. Another cleric in the car was also killed.
Wahad's funeral was to be held later Monday in the northern region of Akkar.
His killing followed a week of intermittent clashes between Sunnis hostile to the Syrian regime and Alawites who support Assad that left 10 people dead in the northern port city of Tripoli
The violence highlighted a deep split between Lebanon's political parties where the opposition backs those leading the uprising against Assad while a ruling coalition led by the powerful Shiite Hezbollah supports the regime.
The Sunni-led opposition has accused Assad of seeking to sow chaos in Lebanon in order to relieve the pressure on his embattled regime.
Lebanese newspapers on Monday carried ominous headlines warning of civil strife.
"During the night, groups of young men cut off the road in the Tareek el-Jdideh district and street battles followed," the official said, requesting anonymity.
"Two people were killed and 18 were wounded," he said, adding that machineguns had been fired and that the fighting had raged until about 3.00 am (2400 GMT).
An office housing a small pro-Syrian party in Tareek el-Jdideh, a mainly Sunni Muslim neighbourhood of west Beirut, was torched during the clashes and the facade of the building was riddled with bullets, an AFP correspondent said.
Several motorcycles and cars parked on the street below were burned.
The situation had returned to calm Monday morning and students could be seen heading on foot to the nearby Arab University.
Tension however was palpable in the capital where residents fear a repeat of sectarian clashes similar to those that brought the country close to civil war in 2008.
"I've had enough ... of war," said Amal Khattab, a 40-year-old teacher and mother of two who lives on the street where the battles took place. "I can't spend another minute in this country."
The latest fighting erupted hours after reports emerged that army troops had shot dead Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Wahad, a prominent anti-Syria Sunni cleric, when his convoy failed to stop at a checkpoint in north Lebanon on Sunday. Another cleric in the car was also killed.
Wahad's funeral was to be held later Monday in the northern region of Akkar.
His killing followed a week of intermittent clashes between Sunnis hostile to the Syrian regime and Alawites who support Assad that left 10 people dead in the northern port city of Tripoli
The violence highlighted a deep split between Lebanon's political parties where the opposition backs those leading the uprising against Assad while a ruling coalition led by the powerful Shiite Hezbollah supports the regime.
The Sunni-led opposition has accused Assad of seeking to sow chaos in Lebanon in order to relieve the pressure on his embattled regime.
Lebanese newspapers on Monday carried ominous headlines warning of civil strife.