Starting late last night and continuing into the morning, Hezbollah and Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) militiamen engaged in street clashes on the major roads of Hamra and Verdun, among other areas of broader Ras Beirut.

"We have an SSNP flag right under us. I'm looking at their guys as we speak," noted Dana, a resident of Hamra. "The ones that I can see are holding their guns... they stop cars; like, every time a car passes by, they stop the car. If they like it, they'll let it go. If they don't, they'll make it turn around."

Fighting has been punctuated by automatic weapons fire and explosions of rocket-propelled grenades. Residents stayed indoors and away from windows, to avoid ricocheting bullets. "Right now, we're looking at about 10 militiamen with what are RPGs mounted on their shoulders, carrying big guns. There are loud bangs, followed by militiamen running down Hamra," stated Sarah, an AUB student. "There were guys in fatigues. At first, I thought they were army. But now, I'm not so sure, because they were wearing masks on their faces... and now these guys aren't in any kinds of uniforms. It has been surreal."

While the Lebanese Army has a presence in Hamra, they are refraining from taking on the militiamen. "On Hamra Street, I don't know, about ten tanks were rolling down the street a couple of hours ago," said Sarah. "They were just talking to the militia guys, standing next to them, and just hanging out. There were not, as far as I can tell, any requests for them to go home."

In the absence of army protection, residents suggested that Hezbollah's control had spread even to the gates of the American University of Beirut. "I just heard that Amal and Hezbollah are on Bliss. Have you heard this? They locked the main gate [of AUB] right now, because they're roaming around," said Hayeon, a South Korean resident of Hamra.

"It's pretty [f-bomb deleted]," said Ryan, a student at the American University of Beirut studying for a masters degree in Middle Eastern studies. "I was drinking pretty heavily, but you sober up pretty quickly when you're scared. I don't know. We've just been trying to stay indoors, trying not to freak out."

Fighting has died down as the day progressed, as militiamen loyal to Hezbollah and their allies secure their control over West Beirut. "I was walking Hamra Street ten minutes ago, and there was one Hezbollah soldier each five meters," explained Francois, a Hamra resident, around noon. "It seems to be under their control. These are the real fighters. It's like an army, with full equipment and weapons. They are really well-equipped. More than the Lebanese army, by far."

A perplexing sense of order prevails on Hamra's streets, regularly interrupted by sporadic bursts of gunfire. Nevertheless, some people were seen walking the streets and a few shops opened their doors. "Snack Faysal [on Bliss Street] is still open," announced Ryan. "They're really making a killing."

May 9, 2008 7:45

The Word from Beirut

Posted by Jay Carney | Comments (8) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

I received a vivid email this morning from someone I know who finds himself in Beirut amid the escalating clashes between pro-Hezbollah and pro-government forces. Paul du Quenoy is a professor, most recently at the American University in Cairo, who is moving to teach at the American University in Beirut in the fall, conditions permitting. Here's what he wrote:

Friends,
I don't know what you are getting on the news, but things got a lot worse here yesterday after the general strike and Hezbollah riot, events which shut down the airport and most city services. I felt lucky to have arrived a day before, the last day the airport received flights. It was nice earlier on - more people were out than were the previous day. Cell phone stores reopened, but nothing else apart from cafes, restaurants, and food shops. I stopped into a couple. The salesmen were really nervous. One kept all his store's phones in a knapsack in case he had to leave in a hurry. The other one had Nasrallah on TV and expressed his complete disgust with the man. Then I stopped at the Gefinor hotel. I met the British general manager there who invited me for a cocktail in their bar. Then I joined their rooftop gym/spa/pool and went for a swim. On my way up I met a Cyprus Airlines pilot who is stranded here. He was talking about going to Damascus, but the Damascus road is blocked. Nasrallah's speech ended at about the time I hit the water. He was as you might expect defiant. He called the government attempt to seize the Hezbollah phone network (they used land lines in the '06 conflict with Israel) a declaration of war and called for armed resistance. Within about 10 minutes, I started hearing machine gun fire and explosions from what I was told were RPGs. I said "Da harb" ("It's war") to one of the pool guys and he laughed and said "Mafii harb - fii hafla!" ("That's not the war, that's a party!") There is a lot of fighting out by the airport and there were some clashes on the corniche. Army helicopters overflew the hotel a few times and I thought it best to get home before dark. The streets were deserted on the way back except for me and small groups of masked militia men with AK-47s hanging out on street corners. I couldn't tell who they were, but they ignored me most of the time. One group about three blocks from my apartment building waved me through and said it would be ok. The soldiers posted at the roadblocks around the neighborhood were crouching in doorways. I had the distinct feeling that I had passed through a front line. Everything in my neighborhood was closed and shuttered except for one produce joint and they looked scared and were about to go home. I stocked up in case Beirut is closed for a few days. The word on the street was that the usual mechanisms for keeping the violence under control aren't working now. I stayed home with the drapes drawn and heard the crackle of automatic weapons fire and the occasional explosion. Casualties are said to be light, but several civilians have been killed in the fighting. At about 2am a massive and totally unpredicted thunderstorm -- unlike any I have ever seen -- broke out and poured rain down on the whole situation. The fighting seems to have died down this morning. Hezbollah appears to have routed the Sunni militias and occupied most of the Muslim part of Beirut. The Sunni party's TV station is off the air and its newspaper's offices are in flames. The parliament building is now under siege. The army is staying neutral but has a heavy and reassuring presence in my neighborhood near the university. I haven't felt afraid. It's more surreal than anything else. And very exciting, but very sad. As far as I know there are no evacuation plans for foreign nationals. The US embassy isn't answering its phone, so I have no contact or information from it. My planned continuing travel to Thailand is of couse out of the question now. There's really no way to leave, but I've decided to stay in Beirut and see it through. Much cheer, PdQ

. The UN is going to take care of everything and disarm Hezbollah.

Good memory :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1701

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is a resolution intended to resolve the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

The Resolution demands:

Full cessation of hostilities (OP1)
Israel to withdraw all of its forces from Lebanon in parallel with Lebanese and UNIFIL soldiers deploying throughout the South (OP2)
Hezbollah to be disarmed (OP3)
Full control of Lebanon by the government of Lebanon (OP3)
No paramilitary forces, including (and implying) Hezbollah, will be south of the Litani River (OP8).

U.N. chief calls for Hezbollah disarmament

Hezbollah was using UN post as 'shield'

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.