3 Dead After Clashes Beteen Hizbollah and Government Forces

We should have let Israel finish the job two years ago. CBC

Clashes in eastern Lebanon between supporters of the Shia Hezbollah and Amal militias and pro-government forces left three people dead and four wounded, security officials in Beirut said Tuesday.

The officials say the violence, which involved machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades, occurred in the Bekaa valley villages of Taalabaya and Saadnayel .

Newspapers in Beirut have reported that Lebanese army posts in the Bekaa valley came under fire from the Shia militia groups but officials have not confirmed the direct involvement of the security forces.

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The militia's lawmakers were taken into cabinet, and the group was given a virtual veto on important government decisions in a new coalition administration.

The Lebanese parliament also broke a deadlock that began at the beginning of last year and chose then-army chief, General Michel Suleiman as Lebanon's new president.

Violence have claimed some 81 lives in the weeks before the Qatar deal, which was given Washington's. stamp of approval on Monday by visiting U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.