BEIRUT, Lebanon(AP)
Lebanon's army command is ordering troops to establish
security in the capital and is calling on all parties to withdraw
their gunmen from the streets.
The army statement also says an airport security chief fired by
the government for alleged ties to Hezbollah will be kept on.
The chief's removal and the government's decision to
declare Hezbollah's communications network illegal sparked days
of the worst sectarian clashes in the country since the civil war
ended in 1990.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further
information. AP's earlier story is below.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) _ A Shiite Muslim shop owner opened fire on
a funeral procession Saturday, killing two people and wounding six
others in a Sunni neighborhood, police and witnesses said.
The attack came a day after Shiite Hezbollah gunmen seized most
of the capital's Muslim sector in the worst sectarian strife
since a 15-year civil war ended nearly two decades ago.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora accused Hezbollah of staging an
"armed coup" against Lebanese democracy, and called on
the army to restore law and order and remove gunmen from the
streets.
In a nationally televised address, he called on the army
"to impose security on all, in all areas, deter the gunmen and
immediately remove them from the street ... to restore normal
life."
"Hezbollah must realize that the force of arms will not
intimidate us or make us retreat from our position," he said
in his first comments since the fighting began.
A total of 25 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the
recent violence _ the worst sectarian bloodshed since the 1978-90
civil war that killed 150,000 people and left Beirut divided along
religious lines.
In Beirut's western Muslim sector, most of the Hezbollah
gunmen had pulled out of Sunni-dominated neighborhoods by Saturday
morning, leaving just small bands of Shiite allies carrying assault
rifles to patrol the streets.
Though most of Beirut was calmer Saturday, the shooting
underlined the lawlessness that has engulfed the seaside city since
Sunni-Shiite violence first erupted four days ago.
On Friday, Iranian-backed Hezbollah gunmen took over large
swaths of western Beirut from Sunnis loyal to Lebanon's
U.S.-backed government. Many later pulled back, but tensions
remained high between supporters of the Shiite militant Hezbollah
and the country's Sunni Muslims.
But Hezbollah's show of military power was certain to both
strengthen its own political position in Lebanon and deeply worry a
Middle East and Western world that are nervous about Iran's
growing influence and its intentions in the region.
An Associated Press photographer who witnessed Saturday's
shooting said the attack came as a procession of 200 people marched
toward a cemetery to bury a 24-year-old man killed by a
sniper's bullet earlier this week. Two people were killed and
six wounded in the shooting, police said.
The shooting occurred even though the Lebanese army had
positioned armored personnel carriers and jeeps at every
intersection. The neighborhood, Tarik Jadideh, was one of the few
Sunni areas Shiite militants had not seized Friday because the army
had deployed in large numbers.
Police said troops later captured the gunman. Neighborhood
residents identified him as a Shiite shop owner, who opened fire
after the procession passed his store. After the attack, angry
residents stormed the shop and set it on fire.
Though the capital was quiet overnight, violence spread to other
areas of Lebanon. Police said Saturday that seven people were
killed in the mountain town of Aley east of Beirut on Friday.
Another civilian died in the clashes in the southern city of Sidon,
police said.
The army, which has stayed on the sidelines of the political
crisis that has paralyzed Lebanon for more than a year, deployed
heavy armor and troops to seal off neighborhoods after Hezbollah
militants pulled back.
Hezbollah seized the Sunni neighborhoods of Beirut after its
leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Thursday accused the U.S.-backed
government of "declaring war" on the militant group.
Lebanon's Cabinet had sought to rein in Hezbollah by
ordering the removal of an airport security chief over alleged ties
to militants and demanding the dismantling of the movement's
private phone network.
Along with seizing neighborhoods, militants also have shut
Lebanon's airport by barricading the road leading to it. The
seaport also was closed.
The Shiite fighters' swift success dramatically empowered
the hand of the Hezbollah-led opposition in the bitter political
struggle with pro-Western factions over who will guide the
country.
The rout of government supporters also was a blow for
Washington, which has long considered Hezbollah a terrorist group
and condemns its ties to Syria and Iran. The Bush administration
has been a strong supporter of Saniora's government and its
army the last three years.
___
Associated Press Writer Hussein Dakroub contributed to this
report.
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