Beirut on Edge of Civil War, Again

Gunfire broke out in downtown Beirut Thursday after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said recent government actions amount to “a declaration of open war.”

“Just in the past few minutes … things have gotten a lot worse,” CNN’s Cal Perry reported from downtown Beirut. The sound of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades could be heard throughout his live reports.

Perry, who took cover with the Lebanese army, said government forces have not yet reacted to the violence.

The violence appeared limited to Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods in the capital, near CNN’s Beirut bureau. There were no reports of violence in Beirut’s Christian neighborhoods.

The Lebanese army, which is charged with trying to keep peace in the capital, is in a precarious position, Perry explained.

“When you’re talking about this much gunfire, when you’re talking about RPG fire, it’s absolutely ludicrous to think that the army will put themselves between these two factions,” he said.

Video of the scene showed tanks and armored personnel carriers moving through empty streets past shuttered stores.

Witnesses and journalists described a long line of cars on the main road leading out of Beirut after violence broke out, but Perry later said he and his cameraman drove past restaurants full of customers calmly enjoying their meals.

The violence erupted shortly after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the government’s attempts to halt Hezbollah’s use of a telecommunications system amounts to “a declaration of open war.”

Source: CNN.

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