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From
Lebanese Forces Official Website Local News  The Lebanese military has promised to restore law
and order to the country, by force if necessary. The statement came as fighting continued between
pro- and anti-government groups on Monday in the northern city of Tripoli,
leaving one person dead. "Army units will halt violations ... in accordance
with the law, even if that leads to the use of force," the military said.
The order would be implemented from 6am local time
(0300 GMT) on Tuesday. At least 81 people have been reported killed in
clashes across the country since violence erupted on May 6.
The toll in Sunday's clashes between pro- and
anti-government fighters in Showyfat, a mountain town near Beirut, reached 11,
with another 20 wounded, the AP news agency, citing medical workers, said.
An uneasy calm prevailed in Beirut where the road
to the international airport was shut for the sixth straight day and a border
crossing into Syria was also blocked.
The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon and his family were
among 200 people who managed to reach the nearby island of Cyprus by boat,
officials there said.
Hezbollah's stand
Pressure has been mounting on Lebanese leaders to
bring an end to the fighting.
Hezbollah welcomed on Monday an Arab League
decision to send a peace mission, but insisted that the delegation must be
neutral. We ask the Arabs not to favour one party over
another," Hussein Khalil, Hezbollah's deputy chief, said.
Michel Aoun, a Christian opposition leader allied
with Hezbollah, blamed the government for the "explosion" of violence in
Lebanon.
"You should ask those whose decision it was to
deploy armed men against the demonstrators whose fault this is," he said.
"The government is to blame. They knew this would
instigate an explosion."
The opposition's success on the ground has dealt a
blow to the ruling coalition.
Fighting first broke out last week after the
Lebanese government - which is boycotted by the opposition - ordered the closure
of a private phone network owned by Hezbollah.
The government also suspended Beirut airport's head
of security over alleged ties to Hezbollah.
After opposition forces took control of west Beirut
on Friday, the army said it would not implement the government's decisions, for
fear that it could inflame sectarian tensions.
Defiant note
The cabinet of Fouad Siniora, the prime
minister, is divided on the revocation issue.
Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces party
and a senior pro-government politician, struck a defiant note in a speech on
Monday.
"We will persevere," he said. "Hezbollah has made
no political gains.
"They will not make the government resign, they
will not revoke cabinet decisions until normalcy is restored."
For 18 months, the Siniora government has resisted
opposition demands for veto rights in cabinet, although Hezbollah has now shown
it has the military muscle to veto decisions it dislikes.
The political turmoil has paralysed state institutions
and left
Arab League mission
Lebanese officials said they expected a Qatari-led
Arab mission, formed at an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo
on Sunday, to arrive in Beirut on Wednesday.
The Arab mediators will try to quell the violence
and tackle the political crisis by securing the election of General Michel
Suleiman, commander of the army, as president.
Both sides had agreed on Suleiman as president but
could not strike a deal over a new government and a law for next year's
parliamentary election. Parliament on Monday postponed a vote on a new
Lebanese president for the 19th time, delaying the session to June 10 from
Tuesday. Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros said: "It seems a deal
to end this crisis may be within reach, but it will need the backing of
international and regional powers first."
Dialogue urged
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, on Monday
condemned those behind the surge of violence and called on all parties to resume
talks to find a way out of the crisis.
And George Bush, the US president, accused Tehran
of "funding Hezbollah".
"Their funding of Hezbollah - look what's happening
in Lebanon now, a young democracy trying to survive," he told Israel's Channel
10 television.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state,
described the situation in Lebanon as "very fragile" before taking part in a
conference call on the crisis with officials from Arab and European countries
and the UN. © Copyright 2008 by Lebanese Forces Official Website |