Hezballah Seyz Lebanese Government Declared War

As the second day of clashes between Hezballah supporters and supporters of the Lebanese government continued. Hezballah said the Lebanese government declared war on them when they declared their telecommunications network illegal. AFP

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Hezbollah's leader says a Lebanese government decision to declare the Shiite militant group's telecommunications network illegal amounts to a declaration of war.

The U.S.-backed government on Tuesday declared the military telecommunications network illegal and said it was a threat to state security. The government also said it would dismiss the security chief of the country's only international airport because he was suspected of ties to Hezbollah.

Those Cabinet decisions sparked two days of sectarian clashes between Hezbollah and government supporters.

"The decision is tantamount to a declaration of war ... on the resistance and its weapons in the interest of America and Israel," Hassan Nasrallah said in a news conference aired live on television Thursday.

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Shiite Muslim supporters of the militant Hezbollah and Sunnis allied with Lebanon's U.S.-backed government clashed for a second day Thursday as sectarian violence in Beirut spilled over to other parts of the country.

The clashes appeared to be a test of wills by the political rivals who have been locked in a 17-month power struggle for control of the government. But there was a risk the violence could degenerate into a wider and deadlier sectarian conflict.

The political crisis exploded into violence Wednesday when supporters of the Hezbollah-led opposition blocked roads in the capital to enforce a strike called by labor unions protesting the government's economic policies and demanding pay raises.

The strike quickly escalated into street confrontations between supporters of the rival camps. About a dozen people were injured, mostly by stones, but no deaths were reported.

On Thursday, the violence spread outside the capital. Sunnis and Shiites exchanged gunfire in the village of Saadnayel in the eastern Bekaa Valley. Four people were injured, said security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

The area is on a major crossroads linking the Shiite areas of Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold, with central Lebanon and Beirut.

Also, supporters of the Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah kept the road to the country's only airport blocked, effectively closing the airport for a second straight day.

Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines, said it was canceling flights until Thursday afternoon because of the road closures and would reassess the situation later.

The clashes have taken on a sectarian tone, bringing back memories of the devastating 1975-1990 civil war that has left lasting scars on Lebanon.

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