PM urges Lebanese army to halt Hezbollah ‘coup’
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) — Prime Minister Fouad Siniora accused Hezbollah of trying to stage a militant coup d’etat on Saturday in his first public comments since violence began three days ago in Beirut.
He also called for the army to intervene after Hezbollah militants took control of the Lebanese capital’s western suburbs.
I call on it once again to impose security on all, in all areas, deter the gunmen and immediately remove them from the street … to restore normal life, Siniora said, according to The Associated Press.
The Lebanese army did not join the battles that erupted this week. Taking sides could throw the military — with its own political factions — into disarray.
Soldiers instead effectively negotiated a surrender of pro-government positions, Lebanese Internal Security Forces and Western military observers said.
Siniora spoke after one person was killed and two were wounded in a drive-by shooting at a funeral procession in the Lebanese capital, shattering the relative calm in the city following the previous days’ violence.
The funeral took place in Tariq Jdeidah, a Sunni Muslim neighborhood in Beirut, witnesses said.
Also, clashes between pro- and anti-government forces in the northern coastal city of Tripoli left one person dead and five wounded Saturday, the ISF said.
We thought the threat our country was from our historic enemy Israel. But recent experience now shows that our homes and our democracy is being held hostage by our own brothers, who want to create coup and terror, Siniora said in a televised address.
He was referring to the Hezbollah-Israeli war in the summer of 2007, during which the Lebanese government supported the Shiite political party and militia backed by Syria and Iran.
Siniora has been hiding in his government headquarters protected by Lebanese troops after Hezbollah and its allies swept through the Muslim sector of the capital.
We can no longer accept that Hezbollah and its weapons be kept like this. The Lebanese can no longer continue to accept this situation, he said in a nationally televised addressed.
Hezbollah must realize that the force of arms will not intimidate us or make us retreat from our position.
Saturday’s deaths brought the number of people killed since the violence broke out Wednesday to 23, the ISF said. Ninety-three people have been wounded in the same period.
Hezbollah militants had set up checkpoints in western Beirut a day after dealing a major blow to the U.S.-backed government.
Militia members, armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, patrolled the streets after forcing pro-government forces from the capital’s Sunni Muslim neighborhoods. Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim militant group backed by Iran and Syria.
The relative calm following three days of clashes put at least a temporary hold on the worst sectarian violence since the end of the country’s civil war in 1991.
Friday’s attacks were also described as a coup by Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a part of the March 14 pro-government coalition.
Jumblatt’s coalition called the takeover an effort to bring Syria back to Lebanon and extend Iran’s reach to the Mediterranean.
Jumblatt said the government was now at the end of a gun barrel and expected the conditions for surrender will be offered sooner or later.
I think … it’s a coup, he said. The Lebanese army is in total paralysis.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Hezbollah leaders of trying to protect their state within a state.
Hezbollah has exploited its allies and demonstrated its contempt for its fellow Lebanese, she said. No one has the right to deprive Lebanese citizens of their political and economic freedom, their right to move freely within their country or their sense of safety and security.
Hezbollah leaders did not make public statements Friday.
With pro-government gunmen out of the way, fighting in the capital eased a bit Friday after two days of intense gun battles echoing through Beirut’s streets.
Two pro-government TV stations were shut down — and the building of one, Future TV, was soon on fire. Watch the TV station burn
Nadim Mounla, the head of Future TV, said Hezbollah had sent a clear message that it would destroy the stations.
The building housing offices of a newspaper was set on fire as well. It and the two TV stations are owned by the prominent Hariri family, leading supporters of the government.
Syria and Iran support Hezbollah, and Syrian troops occupied Lebanon from 1990 until 2006.
Iran said Friday that U.S.-Israel adventurism was the main cause for lingering crisis and instability in Lebanon. Watch how the world is responding to the crisis
State-run news agency IRNA, citing Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, added that Iran’s stand on Lebanon has always been based on non-interference in a matter that is entirely related to the Lebanese nation, alone.
Lebanon’s elected, pro-Western government has long been locked in a power struggle with Hezbollah, which fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006.
Earlier this week, the government demanded Hezbollah shutter its telecommunications operations, which Hezbollah called an act of war.
The government also fired the chief of security at the Beirut airport amid a probe of allegations that Hezbollah had installed cameras and other monitoring equipment there to spy on political opponents.
