Lebanese troops were set to use force if necessary yesterday to disarm gunmen and enforce law and order after six days of deadly sectarian gunbattles that have thrown the nation into fear and chaos.
The military had said that as of 6am its troops were ready to resort to force to bring an end to the violence pitting supporters of the Western-backed government against members of the Hezbollah-led opposition.
The fighting, which has left at least 61 people dead and scores more wounded, is the worst sectarian unrest since the 1975 to 1990 civil war and had stoked fears the country was headed for another all-out conflict.
PHOTO: AP
US President George W. Bush warned Iran and Syria that the international community would not allow Lebanon to fall under foreign domination again and vowed to shore up the Lebanese army.
Fierce battles erupted for about a half hour overnight between Sunnis loyal to the government and pro-Hezbollah Alawites in the northern port city of Tripoli but by early yesterday troops were reinforcing their presence in affected areas.
Similar violence shook Tripoli on Monday leaving at least one person dead, but no fighting was reported in other areas and in Beirut the situation was calm, schools have reopened and traffic was slowly returning to normal.
However, several main highways remained blocked by Hezbollah-led Shiite protests, including the road to the Lebanon's only international airport outside Beirut, which is still shut.
"As of 9am we have no reports of any incidents in areas where the army has deployed," an army spokesman said.
The An-Nahar newspaper said the army decision followed commitments from both camps to rein in their militants pending the outcome of crisis talks with an Arab League delegation due in Lebanon today.
"Today's [yesterday's] agenda: The army takes hold of the streets ... even by force," declared a headline in the As-Safir newspaper, which is close to the opposition.
Bush, who was to leave Washington yesterday for a trip to the Middle East, said his administration would help Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora by strengthening his armed forces.
"I strongly condemn Hezbollah's recent efforts, and those of their foreign sponsors in Tehran and Damascus, to use violence and intimidation to bend the government and people of Lebanon to their will," Bush said in a statement. "The international community will not allow the Iranian and Syrian regimes, via their proxies, to return Lebanon to foreign domination and control."
The latest unrest, which dramatically raised the stakes in an 18-month standoff between the ruling majority and the Syrian and Iranian-backed opposition, erupted after a government crackdown against Hezbollah activities, which the Shiite Muslim militant group said amounted to a declaration of war.
The ensuing sectarian clashes saw Hezbollah gunmen and their allies take over large swathes of majority Sunni areas of mainly Muslim west Beirut, routing pro-government forces.
Hezbollah ended its takeover at the weekend but only after the army reversed the government's decision to probe the group's communication network and to reassign the head of airport security over claims he was close to Hezbollah.
After foreign ministers held weekend crisis talks in Cairo, an Arab League delegation prepared to visit Beirut today in a bid to end the fighting.
Hezbollah welcomed the Arab League decision but insisted that the delegation must be neutral.
"We ask the Arabs not to favor one party over another," Hezbollah deputy chief Hussein Khalil told a news conference.
The ruling majority said in a statement that it was willing to negotiate but not under the gun.
The international "Friends of Lebanon" group called for an immediate end to the violence and for a long-delayed presidential election to be held with no pre-conditions.
"We call for the immediate cessation of fighting, the withdrawal of gunmen from the streets, the unblocking of roads and the reopening of Beirut International Airport," the group said in a statement issued at the UN.
Lebanon's political standoff, which erupted in November 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit, has left it without a president since November, when Damascus protege Emile Lahoud's term ended.
A parliament vote scheduled for yesterday to elect a new president was canceled because of the latest unrest and a new date of June 10 was set.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese