Thousands of pro-Syrian Shiites expressed anger at the death of one of their protestors who was killed during a weekend clash with anti-Syrian demonstrators in a Sunni neighbourhood, as tension continued to engulf the streets of the capital Beirut. 'Death to (Prime Minister Fouad) Seniora,' chanted the crowd during the funeral procession on a main road leading to the Martyrs Cemetery in Beirut's Shiite southern suburbs. 'The blood of the Shiites is boiling.' "Look at us seethe!"
Ahmad Mahmud, 20, was killed during street fights that occurred Sunday night in a predominantly Sunni Moslem neighbourhood near where the opposition has been holding mass protests since Friday to topple the government of Seniora. The clashes have prompted pro- and anti-Syrian officials to call for calm amid fears that sectarian violence would engulf the country as it did between the years 1975-1990.
Hasn't prompted Hassan to tell everybody to go home, though, you betcha...
During the funeral ceremony, Sheikh Abdel Amir Kabalan, interim president of the Higher Shiite Council, appealed for calm and unity among the Lebanese. 'We present the martyr as a sacrifice for Lebanon's national unity,' he said. 'It is forbidden for Shiites to kill Sunnis, for Sunnis to kill Shiites and for Christians to kill Muslims,' said Kabalan.
So how come they do?
Earlier, leaders of Lebanon's anti-Syrian camp Tuesday called for dialogue amid fears of an outbreak of civil strife as pro-Syrian protestors prepared for the funeral. Druze member of parliament (MP) Walid Jumblatt told a news conference in Beirut that 'dialogue is the only solution... to this crisis.'
Jumblatt, an outspoken critic of Syria, accused the Damascus regime of dealing with Lebanon not like a 'state deals with a neighbouring state, but as a bunch of gangs dealing with a state.' The Druze leader called for calm among his followers and asked them not to attend classes at universities with a majority of students loyal to Shiite pro-Syrian groups Amal and Hezbollah for several weeks. 'We want to avoid any provocations, so please I call on the Druze students not to attend the universities until the Christmas vacation is over.' Lebanese Premier Fouad Seniora reiterated his call for dialogue, saying 'the solution of Lebanon's problems will be dealt with inside the constitutional institutions such as the governmental palace and the parliament and not in the streets.'
The deep political division in the country started a few months after Israel's 33-day war against the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Clashes and fist fights have been erupting in several Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods since Sunday near where tens of thousands of Hezbollah and Amal followers along with supporters of their Christian ally General Michel Aoun were protesting to topple the anti-Syrian government. Lebanese soldiers went into action again late Tuesday after riot police were overwhelmed by Shiite protestors who entered a Sunni neighbourhood, prompting residents to retaliate by throwing stones. Calm was restored after an hour of unrest, which followed a day of tension after the 20-year-old pro-Syrian Shiite protestor was killed.
A police statement called on the 'organizers of the demonstration to tell the demonstrators to refrain from harming residents and passers-by, or else they will be detained and referred to the courts.'
Meanwhile, the Hezbollah-led protest in downtown Beirut continued for the fifth day around the government palace where Seniora's office is located, with demonstrators calling on the premier to resign. Troops and anti-riot police have deployed in force around Beirut to keep the peace, and the Seniora government has received strong public backing from Western and Arab countries. 'Arab countries cannot sit and watch the situation that could get worst,' Arab League secretary general said during a mediation visit to Beirut on Monday. The United States accused demonstrators trying to topple the government of working with Syria to halt investigations into the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri. The assassination was widely blamed on Syria and its Lebanese allies.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned Monday that an international aid conference next month could fall through if all Lebanese factions did not work together closely to prepare it. The conference was meant to secure assistance to help Lebanon overcome the results of the July-August Israeli war against the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. According to estimates that war caused more than 3.5 billion dollars in damage.