Hezbollah Routs Pro - Government Gunmen; Controls Beirut

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah took control of the Muslim part of Beirut on Friday, tightening its grip on the city in a major blow to the U.S.-backed government.

Security sources said at least 11 people had been killed and 30 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government gunmen and fighters loyal to Hezbollah, a Shi'ite political movement with a powerful guerrilla army.

The European Union, Germany and France urged calm and a peaceful resolution. Syria said the issue was an internal Lebanese affair while Iran blamed "the adventurist interferences" of the United States and Israel for the violence.

The fighting, the worst internal strife since the 1975-90 civil war, was triggered this week after the government took decisions targeting Hezbollah's military communications network. The group said the government had declared war.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-lebanon-conflict.html

[Satyagrahi]

1. "The US seems to be miscalculating in Lebanon again"

A dangerous strategy

The US seems to be miscalculating in Lebanon again as the Beirut government heads for a showdown with Hizbullah

By Nicholas Noe

Once again, the Bush administration is playing a dangerous game in the Levant without realising either the potential long-term costs of its gamble - human and strategic - or the possibility of a more intelligent alternative.

-snip-

Now, Lebanon is again front and centre on the chessboard, with a concerted decision by the alliance of pro-US parties (the March 14 group) to use what remains of "state power" to directly challenge Hizbullah on the core issue of its independent military power. The challenge, which came following a series of meetings between March 14 leaders and US officials, is being posed primarily as an issue about Hizbullah's long-acknowledged and tacitly-accepted private communications network. But as Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made clear yesterday, and as March 14 leaders know all too well - the party's telecom system is at the heart of its military strategy. Indeed, it was the main reason why Hizbullah was able to maintain an unprecedented level of coordination during the 2006 war, despite the most sophisticated countering efforts by the Israelis.

-snip-

As in the Israeli-Palestinian theatre, however, the most powerful actor - the United States - was consistently, and sadly, absent or badly misinformed at the highest levels. At the worst moments, policy was directed by a narrowing band of hardline neoconservatives in the Bush White House, most prominently Elliott Abrams, who are still reportedly trying to steer the course for Lebanon they dubbed early on as "the Cedar Revolution."

Unfortunately, as the events of the past 48 hours suggest, the policy of neglect and occasional direct confrontation by the US, in particular, has provided neither peace nor victory for the Lebanese, the region or the US for that matter. Instead, one is left with the impression that an outgoing group of Bush administration officials feel compelled to desperately force their last remaining "mission accomplished," even as it slips further away.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/nicholas_noe/2008/05/a_dangerous_strategy.html

[wellst0nev0ter]

2. The Arab Spring

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/03/10/the_arab_spring/

no comment :grr:

[redqueen]

5. Hah.

I might just e-mail them a link to their sad display of gullibility, and a link to reality.

[maddezmom]

3. Pro-government TV station set on fire as Beirut continues to see worst sectarian violence since end

http://edition.cnn.com/?iref=intlglobal

~snip~

“I think … it’s a coup,” said Walid Jumblatt, a Druze leader and part
of the pro-government coalition.

Two pro-government TV stations shut down. The head of one, Future TV,
said Hezbollah was sending a “clear message” that it would “destroy” them.
Later an engineer from Future TV told CNN that, according to eye witnesses, the
station’s now empty building in West Beirut had been set on fire.

more:http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/09/hezbollah-seizes-western-beirut/

[maddezmom]

4. more

The satellite TV station affiliated with the party of Lebanon's top Sunni lawmaker, Saad Hariri, was forced off the air. Gunmen set the offices of the party's newspaper, Al-Mustaqbal, on fire in the coastal neighborhood of Ramlet el-Bayda.

Hariri and Druse leader Walid Jumblatt were besieged in their West Beirut residences. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and several ministers holed up in Saniora's downtown office surrounded by troops and police.

Gunmen loyal to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party set ablaze a two-story building where Hariri's Future TV has its archives in the western neighborhood of Rawche, about 100 yards from the Saudi embassy. The secular pro-Syrian group, a longtime ally of Hezbollah, has dozens of its own gunmen in the streets.

A rocket-propelled grenade hit the fence of Hariri's heavily protected residence, security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080509/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon;_ylt=AthIJ_kaVQrJZ1saFvUi995w24cA

[redqueen]

6. K&R

Anyone else expect this latest turn of events to be used to augment the drumbeat of war against Iran?

[maddezmom]

7. Kouchner offers French help in Lebanon crisis

Kouchner offers French help in Lebanon crisis 09 May 2008 16:55:49 GMT

PARIS, May 9 (Reuters) - France is offering to help warring factions in Lebanon meet for talks in the hope of preventing a grave situation becoming worse, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Friday.

"We invite everyone to come to the table to reach an accord. We are ready to facilitate their meeting and take all necessary measures," he said in a statement.

~snip~

"We call on everyone, each party, each force, to immediately stop the fighting and return to dialogue. We demand the barricades be lifted and the airport reopened," he added.

Later, Kouchner said France was making plans for a possible evacuation of its nationals should the situation deteriorate, although the government was not recommending it for now.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09443104.htm

[maddezmom]

8. State say they were "not aware of any contemplation" of deployment of US Forces in the area.

U.S. supports embattled Lebanese government 09 May 2008 16:44:07 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds quotes, details)

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday restated its support for the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora after its forces were routed by fighters loyal to Hezbollah in Beirut.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would be telephoning leaders in the region about the situation, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

"I would restate our unswerving commitment and support for the Siniora government," he said. "They are doing all the right things. ... Its use and deployment of the military serve the best interests of the Lebanese people and Lebanon."

Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group took control of the Muslim half of Beirut on Friday, tightening its grip on the city in a major blow to the government. Pro-government gunmen had been battling fighters loyal to Hezbollah, a Shi'ite political movement, for three days.

McCormack told reporters he was "not aware of any contemplation" of deploying U.S. forces in the area.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09490826.htm

[maddezmom]

9. Fresh violence in Lebanon kills 11

Fresh violence in Lebanon kills 11
49 minutes ago

BEIRUT (AFP) — Violence raged in Lebanon for a fourth straight day leaving 11 people dead on Saturday as tension gripped the country after Hezbollah seized control of west Beirut in what the Western-backed coalition branded an armed coup.

The death toll from the fighting between mainly Sunni supporters of the ruling bloc and Shiite members of the opposition hit 29, prompting Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to announce an address to the nation as Lebanon teetered dangerously close to a new civil war.

Five people were killed in north Lebanon in clashes between the rival supporters, a security official told AFP.

In the capital, six people were killed when gunmen opened fire at the funeral procession of a Sunni civilian killed in earlier clashes.

"We have six dead and 20 injured, six of them in critical condition," an official at Beirut's Makassed hospital said.


more:http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gq-nTybmT2A2P7aVYTpZggXS9m-A