Fighting has broken out on the streets of Beirut after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said recent government actions amount to "a declaration of open war." The sounds of automatic gunfire and explosions have been heard around the city. Video of the scene showed tanks and armoured personnel carriers moving through empty streets past shuttered stores. Others showed gunmen shooting AK-47s wildly at unknown targets. The violence erupted shortly after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the government's attempts to halt Hezbollah's use of a telecommunications system amounts to "a declaration of open war."
"We believe the war has started and we believe that we have the right to defend ourselves," Nasrallah said in a televised speech. "We will cut the hand that will reach out to the weapons of the resistance no matter if it comes from the inside or the outside." At the same time, Nasrallah called for dialogue, saying, "We are ready, whoever wants a compromise, we are here and ready. Those who have taken decisions leading to war, let them withdraw their decisions and there would be no war," he said. "Am I declaring war? Not at all. I am declaring oppression and self-defense." Lebanese Communications Minister Marwan Hamadi said Nasrallah's speech "is a direct threat of assassinating us" but added "We are not scared of the threat". He told al-Arabiya television, "He says it is a new phase; we say it is a new phase, too. We are determined to keep what is left of the Lebanese government."
Many Lebanese politicians who have opposed Syria's influence in their country have been assassinated in recent years, including former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and four members of parliament.
The latest tensions between Lebanon's U.S.-backed government and Hezbollah were sparked Monday when the government sacked airport security chief Brig. Gen. Wafik Shoukeir. According to the latest reports at least 2 have died and 5 are injured as clashes continue between rival factions and security forces [BBC / al Jazeera / CNN].
1 comment:
Hello. I am writing this from lebanon. University is closed because of Huzbullah militants outside campus. Huzbullah has taken over West Beirut. They will continue holding the city until the pro-western government will submit to its demandings. Lets just hope they dont take over the government like Hamas did in Gaza. But basically they can now do whatever they want now. The question to ask is Now What? A christian leader Michel Aoun is hoping that once Huzbullah has taken over, he will be president. Basically supporting Huzbullah is like supporting the death of Lebanese and destruction of Beirut. Was is it all necessary to become President?
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