Lebanon crippled by violent strike

From The Australian, January 24, 2007 , by Correspondents in Beirut ...

LEBANON'S pro-Syrian opposition paralysed the country last night in a nationwide strike aimed at ousting the Western-backed Government. Protesters fought rival supporters, barricaded roads with blazing tyres and disrupted air traffic in the latest show of force. Police said at least 25 people were wounded, some with bullets, in violent clashes between rival groups in Beirut and other areas, adding to concerns over the stability of a country still bearing the scars of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Lebanese troops and police were out in force for the one-day general strike, which has been denounced by the Government as a "coup attempt" by the Hezbollah-led opposition.

Thick clouds of smoke billowed over the capital and other cities as demonstrators blocked roads by burning tyres and old cars, and spreading sand and rubble. Some protesters even lay in streets to block traffic, while many shops and other businesses were closed and ordinary Lebanese struggled to get to work.

Militants blocked main roads across the country, cutting access to Beirut airport, in an escalation of the protest that has crippled the administration of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora for weeks.
Fifteen people were wounded by gunfire in clashes in northern Lebanon and in the mountains east of the capital, while 10 more were injured as pro- and anti-government rivals fought and hurled stones, police said.

...Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, who survived an assassination attempt in 2004 blamed on Syria, denounced the action as an "anti-government coup".

..."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.

....Former MP Fares Sahed, a main figure in the anti-Syrian camp, also urged government forces to take action against the protests and "not to participate in this blatant coup d'etat". "If the security forces continue to fail to carry out their duty, people will go down and open the roads by themselves," he said....