At least 38 people were wounded in mushrooming riots between anti and pro-government factions in Lebanon Tuesday as the general strike called by the opposition to topple Premier Fouad Saniora's government developed into a bloody confrontation.| And getcher programs an' scorecards out, can't tell the players apart without yer programs. |
Security sources told Naharnet 25 of the casualties suffered bullet wounds in the running confrontations that spread across most of the country after the army and security forces failed to re-open roads blocked by the Hizbullah-led opposition.
Tongues of flame shot up into the sky and thick-black smoke billowed from thousands of blazing rubber tires that blocked roads in Beirut, north, east, central and south Lebanon. Meanwhile, trucks flying Hizbullah flags unloaded tons of debris, dirt and stones in at least 12 spots along the highway leading to Rafik Hariri International airport as army troops watched without trying to prevent them. Hizbullah-run bulldozers moved to erect earth mounds along the highway, to prevent citizens from reaching the airport. A statement by the civil aviation authority said the airport remains operational, but passengers have not been able to make it to the facility.
In Beirut's Mar Elias commercial thoroughfare, hooded supporters of Hizbullah and the Shiite Amal movement also blocked traffic by blazing rubber tires and rocks. However, some motorists insisted on driving through the blockade. A lady, driving a dark blue Mercedes, was attacked by protestors who tried to smash her vehicle's wind shield. The apparently determined lady sped-on hitting three of the protestors, who were evacuated later by an Amal ambulance.
| Paging Green Helmet Guy, paging Green Helmet Guy... |
Both factions hurled rocks at each other and all of a sudden staccato bursts of automatic rifle fire echoed across the area. At least six people were wounded before an army patrol intervened and managed to re-open the road. Cautious calm prevailed, but groups of young men were seen staking it out at street corners, which indicates that the confrontation could break out again.In north and Mount Lebanon, members of Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces took to the streets to reopen roads blocked by followers of Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and Suleiman Franjieh's Marada faction, the two Christian groups allied with Hizbullah. Violence broke out nearly three hours after the opposition blocked roads and the army refrained from intervening to reopening them. In the Northern Akkar province, seven members of Hariri's Mustaqbal movement were wounded when armed elements of the Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) opened fire at them as they arrived at the town of Halba on their way to work, security sources reported. They said one of the wounded was in a critical condition.
In the Sofar mountain resort east of Beirut, three SSNP members were wounded when unidentified assailants opened fire at their car, the sources added.
The opposition has been trying in vain since Dec. 1 to topple the Saniora government. The confrontation Tuesday pushed the nation a step further towards the threat of civil unrest that the majority alliance has been trying to avoid.
The MSM isn't moving on this story. They're missing a big one.