Anti-government protesters blocked roads with blazing tires in the Lebanese capital and disrupted air traffic during a strike over wages on Wednesday that escalated into a confrontation between rival political camps.
Anti-riot police and the army were out in full force, cutting off access to many areas to prevent clashes between supporters of the opposition and the government.
Youths set tires and cars on fire and overturned rubbish bins near Beirut international airport, where flights were cancelled for most of the day.
Hezbollah operatives brought in trucks loaded with dirt and dumped it on the airport road in the southern suburbs of Beirut which are largely controlled by Hezbollah.
Pictures of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and head of airport security Brigadier General Wafik Shoukeir were raised on both sides of the road leading to the Beirut International Airport, blocked by dirt barriers.
The Future Movement offices in Nouwairi were also damaged by three rocket-propelled grenades and bullets.
By early afternoon, clashes between supporters of the ruling bloc and the opposition were taking place in several areas of the capital.
Young men, many of them masked, were throwing stones at each other and trading insults, correspondents witnessed. Gunfire and the explosion of rocket-propelled grenades could also be heard.
Television footage showed some of the protesters with their faces bloodied and at least one opposition supporter was wounded in the hand by gunfire, a correspondent witnessed.
A security official said a stun grenade was thrown in the Corniche al-Mazraa district of the capital, slightly injuring two soldiers and three civilians.
An airport official said that flights were cancelled or delayed between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm but it was unclear whether they would fully resume considering the blockage of the roads.
Many schools and businesses shut down in the capital and the city's streets were largely deserted, apart from the protesters.
A demonstration due to be staged in Beirut by the country's main labor union was cancelled as few people were able to reach the main gathering point.
Ghassan Ghosn, head of the General Confederation of Labor Union (CGTL), accused the army of failing to ensure the protesters safe passage along the demonstration route.
But former MP Ghattas Khoury, a leader in the majority, accused the opposition of using the strike to further its agenda.
"This is anything but a strike concerning mounting prices," he said. "This is an attempt by Hezbollah to destabilise the state by taking Beirut hostage and by forcing the shutdown of roads leading to the airport."
The industrial action, backed by the opposition, was called by the CGTL to force the government to raise the monthly minimum wage which had been unchanged since 1996.
Although the cabinet on Tuesday, on the eve of the protest action, agreed to a 130-dollar increase a month to 330 dollars, the CGTL said it was insufficient.
The federation is demanding that the minimum wage be increased to 600 dollars but the government has balked at such a rise, and Finance Minister Jihad Azour has said it could lead to rampant inflation.
The strike action comes amid a backdrop of mounting tensions between the ruling coalition and the opposition, which have been locked in a power struggle for 16 months.
On Tuesday, tensions rose even further after the government announced it was launching a judicial probe into a telecommunication network that Hezbollah has set up across the country with the alleged help of Iran.
The cabinet also decided to dismiss the head of airport security amid allegations he was aware that Hezbollah had set up surveillance cameras overlooking an airport runway.
The political crisis, the worst since the end of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war in 1990, has prevented the election of a president since November, when Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his mandate.
-AFP/NOW Staff