BEIRUT, 29 January 2008 — The Lebanese Army was on high alert in the capital Beirut yesterday following weekend riots that left at least eight people dead and stoked fears of civil unrest. Troops were out in force, setting up sandbags and checkpoints along roads leading from the mainly Shiite neighborhoods of southern Beirut to Christian areas of the capital.
The scene was a stark reminder of the beginning of the 1975-1990 civil war as the first line of demarcation at the time was in the same area. Eight people were killed in Sunday’s riots, including activists from the Syrian-backed opposition parties Amal and Hezbollah, a security official told AFP. About 40 people were also injured.
“Black Sunday” said the headline in the Arabic daily Al-Mustaqbal. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora declared yesterday a day of mourning and ordered all schools and universities shut in an apparent attempt to prevent further clashes between rival political groups.
“This is an hour of sadness. Our country is passing through the most dangerous times,” he said after the riots, the worst street disturbances in Lebanon in a year. Lebanon has been embroiled in a deep crisis since the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri in February 2005. The backlash against his killing resulted in Syria withdrawing its forces from its tiny neighbor after a presence of nearly 30 years.
Local newspapers and television reported that Sunday’s violence broke out after youths protesting power cuts in the Shiite district of Shiyah entered the nearby Christian area of Ein El-Rommaneh and began throwing stones and setting cars on fire. A grenade also exploded injuring seven people.
The situation quickly escalated with youths spreading to several neighborhoods, setting tires ablaze and briefly shutting down the main road leading to the airport. Protests also broke out in the southern coastal cities of Sidon and Tyre and in the eastern Bekaa region.
The bloodshed raised fears of civil strife in a country already grappling with its worst political crisis since the end of the civil war and with a series of assassinations mainly targeting anti-Syrian figures. The latest attacks this month targeted a US Embassy vehicle and a senior intelligence officer who died in a massive car bomb on Friday.
The Hezbollah resistance group, which is engaged in a power struggle with the Western-backed ruling coalition, blamed the government for Sunday’s unrest.
“We call on the army to clearly explain which side is behind the killing of these innocent people,” said the group, backed by Syria and Iran.
