Riots in Beirut

[Parmenion]

Source: El Nashra

Riots hit Beirut around 5:30 pm local time after a member of the Amal movement (one of the Shi'i political parties that is part of the opposition) was shot. Protesters tried to shut down the road to the airport with burning tires. Then around 6 there were shootings in Mar Mikhail neighborhood of Beirut, with current reports reporting 3 dead and 14 injured. Also, the highways from Baalbak to Beirut and Sidon to Tyr were cut. The Lebanese Army is trying to re-assert authority.

7:40 PM: The leadership of Hezbollah and Amal are trying to shut down the riots. They say they were started spontaneously and are not organized from the parties. It seems the army will soon reassert control. This thread can now be deleted and replaced later with better one explaining situation.

Read more: www.elnashra.com

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This is major news here in Beirut, but western news wires aren't reporting it fully. When someone does replace this thread with a proper thread.

[Fredda Weinberg]

1. Do they blame the Christians? There was another assassination recently n/t

[acmavm]

2. Can you please provide a little background on this man and why/who

would benefit by his assasination. We here in the US are under a news blackout and if it doesn't concern Hils or Barrie, it's not a news story.

[Parmenion]

3. Not a political assasination

Sorry for using unclear language, I meant to write a member of Amal movement as in a partisan in it was shot. He was not a politician, just a "card-carrying" party member, such as if in the U.S. a private citizen who is very activist for one party was shot, and the entire neighborhood he lives in would come out to protest.

[acmavm]

9. Thank you for your clarification. It is so hard to keep up with events in that

part of the world. It's hard to tell the political killings from the revenge killings from the random violence. Why so much trouble in Lebanon right now? Why can't they pull a government together that's strong enough to take control of the country? Or am I just ignorant of what is really going on?

It is such a 'treat' (for lack of a better word) to get an actual idea of what is going on from someone who is there.

[mcscajun]

4. The link you have provided is to an Arabic-language only page.

Is there another link available for English?

[Parmenion]

5. Sure

www.nowlebanon.com

But I endorse this thread for deleting now. The news has passed.

[alfredo]

10. It won't get deleted, in time it will drop off the front page.

Though this page is for current news, it's quite alright to keep a conversation going for days. What is required that the news be less than 12 hours old when first posted. Where it goes from there and how long it will stay on the front page is contingent on how many take part and for how long. You can never tell what topics will take off and what will disappear from the front page.




Welcome to DU

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. "Seven killed in Beirut riots" - and have a link

.
.
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Seven killed in Beirut riots

January 27, 2008

Sunday, January 27

At least seven people were killed on Sunday when protests over power cuts exploded into violence in the mainly Shia southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

The bloodshed came amid fears of civil unrest in Lebanon which has been gripped by a protracted presidential crisis, and two days after a massive car bombing killed a top intelligence officer and four others.

/snip/

The army said it had opened an investigation into the bloodshed. The violence escalated after Hamza, who was cooperating with the army, was killed. It was unclear, however, who fired at the victims.

/snip/

The army fired warning shots to disperse the demonstrators, a security official said. Witnesses told AFP that gunmen in the crowd opened fire at the security forces that retaliated.

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Lots more at http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=28493


Pictures from http://www.nowlebanon.com/Default.aspx below

[NYC]

7. Thanks for reporting.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[tabasco]

8. It could be such a beautiful city if it were not for the violence.

I think they used to call it the Paris of the Middle East.