Fighting shuts down Beirut

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The open warfare everyone feared and nobody believed would really happen erupted Thursday in the streets of Beirut, transforming this Mediterranean seaside city into a ghost town of gunmen and explosions reminiscent of the worst days of Lebanon's civil war.

As Shiite and Sunni fighters battled one another across the Muslim western sector of the city, Lebanese were wondering whether this indeed marked the beginning of a new civil war, or perhaps just an impromptu expression of the pent-up tensions that have been building for months between the supporters of the U.S.-backed government and those of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement.

The battles spread within moments of a rare news conference by the leader of the Shiite Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, who effectively endorsed the use of violence by his supporters against fellow Lebanese. This is a first in the history of the group, which has always declared that it is armed only to defend Lebanon against Israeli aggression.

Speaking via a live teleconference link from an undisclosed location, Nasrallah blamed Lebanon's pro-Western government for starting a "war" by challenging Hezbollah's use of a satellite communications network and of surveillance cameras at Beirut's international airport, two issues of vital importance to Hezbollah.

The challenge, he said, "is tantamount to a declaration of war, the starting of a war on the part of the government ... on behalf of the U.S. and Israel. Our response is that, whoever declares a war against us or starts a war against us, whether it's a brother or a father, it is our right to defend ourselves and our existence."

Nasrallah, who rarely appears in public out of concerns for his safety, has said repeatedly that civil war with fellow Lebanese was a "red line" that Hezbollah would never cross. Using language that would be well-understood by watching Lebanese, he declared: "This is a new era in which all red lines have collapsed."

The comments appeared to give a green light to fighters on both sides to take to the streets in force, and fighting quickly spread from trouble spots along the city's Sunni-Shiite fault lines into mixed areas such as Hamra, the main commercial district.

The Lebanese army, which has stood between the rival factions during numerous minor clashes in recent months, was nowhere to be seen. At least six people were reported killed.

At the heart of the conflict lies the long-running dispute over the distribution of power in a state that has been dominated by the pro-Western Christian, Sunni and Druze forces of the March 14 movement since the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country in 2005.

Hezbollah, backed by the Shiite Amal movement, has been challenging the March 14 movement's hold on power. Its followers have been camping out in downtown Beirut since 2006 in what has proved to be a futile attempt to bring the government down. A Christian faction loyal to former Lebanese army general Michel Aoun also supports Hezbollah's position. Although tensions were running high between Christian factions, the Christian area of eastern Beirut was calm.

The decision by the Lebanese government Tuesday to investigate Hezbollah's private communications network was taken by Hezbollah as a challenge to its role as the guardian of Lebanon's security against the threat of Israeli aggression. The network proved vital in helping Hezbollah stand against advancing Israeli forces in 2006, the movement says.

The government also fired the head of security at Beirut's international airport after the discovery of surveillance cameras belonging to Hezbollah that were allegedly trained on a runway used by the country's top politicians.

Hezbollah has responded by blockading the road leading to the airport, forcing the cancellation of almost all flights.