Thousands of Lebanese protesters blocked main roads in Beirut and across the country on Tuesday at the first day of a general strike called by the opposition to try to topple the government.
One government supporter died and four were injured in a clash with opposition followers in northern Lebanon on Tuesday, security sources said.
They said members of the pro-government Future movement and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) exchanged fire in the village of Halba during nationwide protests by the opposition to topple Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
According to the AFP, police said at least 58 people were wounded, some hit by bullets, in clashes between rival groups in Beirut and other areas.
The opposition, which is led by Hizbullah, is calling for early elections. Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday urged followers to be ready for more steps which the opposition might announce. Christian leader Michel Aoun said the strike organized on Tuesday by the opposition has "succeeded" and vowed more "escalation". Aoun said he is "satisfied with the strike that covered all the Lebanese territories, from the border to the border." He accused supporters of Saniora's government of "committing crimes. This is a criminal government."
Protesters in Beirut, north, south and east Lebanon went to the streets at around 6 a.m. and started blocking off roads, Reuters reported. Most main roads inside Beirut and into the city were blocked. Highways connecting the capital to north and south Lebanon as well as to the Syrian capital Damascus were also cut off at several sites.
The road to Beirut's international airport was also blocked off. Lebanese troops made little effort to intervene. In the Beirut commercial district of Mar Elias, opposition activists used burning tires to block a column of army armored personnel carriers from deploying in the area.
Witnesses and TV footage suggested that the opposition had shut down many neighborhoods and suburbs of the capital as well as areas around the country. But Beirut Mayor Abdel-Munim Ariss put on a brave face, telling Al-Arabiya television the city was functioning normally.
Government officials described the disturbances as an attempted coup. "It is one of the chapters of the putsch," said Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh. "This will fail as in the past, and the legitimate government of Lebanon will remain steadfast," he told Al-Arabiya television. In another television interview, he called the protesters "thugs."
Another Cabinet minister, Ahmed Fatfat, voiced concern that there would be more violence between the rival sides. "The opposition is attempting a coup by force ... This is not a strike. This is military action, a true aggression and I'm afraid this could develop into clashes between citizens," Fatfat, the youth and sports minister, told Al-Arabiya.
"This has nothing to do with democracy or freedom. This has been transformed into a coup d'etat. It is a revolt in every sense of the word," said Samir Geagea, head of the Christian Lebanese Forces.
© 2007 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
