Rival Groups Clash in Beirut Streets

Photos
Strike Turns Violent in Beirut
Government and opposition supporters clashed at a Beirut university campus Thursday, battering each other with sticks, stones and even furniture as new violence erupts from Lebanon's political crisis.

Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, issued a religious edict to his followers to withdraw. "This is an order on everyone," he said.

Nabih Berri, the speaker of parliament, whose Amal movement is allied with Hezbollah, warned that events were spiraling out of control: "We must all be united or we have to look for our country in the graveyard of history."

Almost from the beginning of the current crisis, many in Lebanon have predicted that only bloodshed would force a break in the deadlock between the government, supported by the United States and France, and an opposition led by Hezbollah, supported by Iran and Syria. Since then, the struggle -- effectively splitting the country into two camps divided by sect, ideology, perspective and loyalty to leaders -- has escalated. On Tuesday, Hezbollah, Amal and their Christian allies, who are led by Michel Aoun, enforced a nationwide strike by blocking thousands of roads with tires, uprooted trees and barricades of dirt and dumpsters.

As Thursday's battles raged, the country's politicians frantically called one another. Lebanese officials said Berri and Walid Jumblatt, a Druze leader allied with the government, spoke for the first time since the crisis began. All agreed to try to quiet the streets, although no initiative emerged. After the curfew took effect, the army said the streets were largely calm.

The battles began around noon with an argument between Shiite and Sunni students in the cafeteria of the Beirut Arab University. Each side accused the other of provocation, but within 15 minutes, university security officers separated the two groups. Sunni students said one of their own was then attacked on campus. Shiite students said the army tried to evacuate female students. As they left, Sunni students hit them and ripped off their veils, Shiite students said.

The fighting spilled into the tense Sunni neighborhood of Tariq Jedideh. Shiite students said that residents threw rocks and that at least three people fired on them from balconies. Mohammed Abdel Satir, a 21-year-old engineering student, said he and others then called Hezbollah officials, who dispatched men in trucks and vans.

"We don't trust the Lebanese army, and we saw this today with our own eyes," he said as he stood near knots of female students, some of them crying. "It's Hezbollah's duty to protect us. The government is not protecting us anymore."

The arrival of hundreds of Shiite residents inflamed tensions. Battles spread through the surrounding streets, with the airport road serving as a front line. Troops fired tear gas; at other times, they stood idly next to rock-throwing protesters.

"The blood of Shiites is boiling!" young men shouted.

Sunni residents urged the army to push back the Shiite crowds.

"Attack them!" one man yelled at the soldiers, his face contorted in anger.

Along the street, gunfire crackled into the night. Some Sunni residents tossed molotov cocktails into a parking lot, where young Shiite men had wrecked dozens of cars. Others threw rocks, some of them hitting soldiers.

"They came to our turf," said Mohammed Kraim, 23. "We want to face them with guns," he added. "This isn't fair."

Special correspondent Alia Ibrahim contributed to this report.