Lebanon clashes switch to Tripoli

Heavy fighting broke out between government supporters and opponents in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli today.

The clashes came after soldiers ended similar battles that killed at least 11 people in mountains overlooking Beirut.

Residents said they heard strong explosions reverberating through Tripoli. Rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and mortars were being used.

Earlier fighting in Tripoli had stopped after Lebanese troops deployed between the two sides, but it broke out again a day later after soldiers pulled back.

In the mountains near Beirut, fighting ceased last night after Druse leader Walid Jumblatt called on his Druse opponents in the mountains, who are allied with Hezbollah, to mediate a cease-fire and hand over the region to Lebanese troops.

Officials could not immediately provide casualty figures from other mountain towns where fighting also raged a day earlier. But the latest deaths pushed to 49 the number of people killed since violence erupted on Wednesday, in the worst internal clashes since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

The unrest began last week when Lebanon’s government decided to sack the chief of airport security for alleged ties to Hezbollah, and also declared the militant group’s private telephone network illegal. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said the decisions amounted to a declaration of war.

Meanwhile, shops began opening in the capital and more civilians were seen emerging from their homes, though traffic was lighter than usual. Many schools and universities were still closed.

Most gunmen have withdrawn from Beirut’s streets, but those from the Hezbollah-allied Syrian Social Nationalist Party remain posted outside the party’s offices in the Hamra and Rawche areas. Hamra is adjacent to the residence of top Sunni pro-government leader Saad Hariri, which is ringed by army commandos.

After the civil war ended in 1990, all of Lebanon’s various militias surrendered their weapons and transformed into political parties, keeping only small arms. Only Hezbollah was allowed to keep its arms because it was considered a resistance movement battling Israel.

But over the years, the groups have accumulated more weapons and reasserted control in different areas.

Major roads in Beirut, including the main airport route, were still blocked today with huge sand barriers. The road closures are part of what the Hezbollah-led opposition has called a “civil disobedience” campaign, which it has vowed to continue until the government reconsiders the two decisions that sparked the violence.

The Hezbollah-led opposition quit the Cabinet 18 months ago, demanding larger representation that would give them veto power over government decisions. The deadlock has kept parliament from electing a new president since November.

Army commander general Michel Suleiman is the consensus candidate for president and the army’s success in calming Beirut over the weekend could enhance his chances of being elected.

But Hezbollah’s show of force in Beirut served a blow to Washington. The U.S. has long considered Hezbollah a terrorist group and condemned its ties to Syria and Iran. The Bush administration has been a strong supporter of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora’s government and its army for the last three years.