> ...and *bomb* the shit out of Hezzbollah.

> and a clear signal to the middle east in general. Terrorist groups are no
> longer going to run countries.
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080509/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon
>
> By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
>
> BEIRUT, Lebanon - Shiite Hezbollah gunmen seized nearly all of the
> Lebanese capital's Muslim sector from Sunni foes loyal to the U.S.-backed
> government on Friday in the country's worst sectarian clashes since the
> 15-year civil war.
>
> At least 11 people have been killed and more than 20 wounded in three days
> of street battles in West Beirut between the Iranian- and Syrian-backed
> Hezbollah fighters and gunmen to the government, security officials said.
> The satellite TV station affiliated with the party of Lebanon's top Sunni
> lawmaker, Saad Hariri, was forced off the air. Gunmen set the offices of
> the party's newspaper, Al-Mustaqbal, on fire in the coastal neighborhood
> of Ramlet el-Bayda.
>
> Clashes tapered off by mid-afternoon but Hariri and Druse leader Walid
> Jumblatt remained besieged in their West Beirut residences. Prime Minister
> Fuad Saniora and several ministers were holed up in Saniora's downtown
> office surrounded by troops and police.
>
> A rocket-propelled grenade hit the fence of Hariri's heavily protected
> residence, security officials said on condition of anonymity because they
> were not allowed to speak to the media.
>
> Pro-government majority officials held an emergency meeting in a mountain
> town in the Christian heartland northeast of Beirut, according to LBC TV,
> a pro-government Christian station.
>
> "Even if Hezbollah's militia took everything we remain the constitutional
> authority," Cabinet Minister Ahmed Fatfat told Al-Arabiya TV from
> Saniora's compound.
>
> The unrest shut down Lebanon's international airport and barricades set up
> by both side closed major highways. The seaport also was closed, leaving
> one land route to Syria as Lebanon's only link to the outside world.
>
> Arab foreign ministers called an emergency meeting for Sunday in Cairo,
> Egypt to discuss the crisis, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam
> Zaki said.
>
> About 100 Shiite Hezbollah militants wearing camouflage uniforms and
> carrying assault rifles marched down Hamra Street, a normally vibrant
> commercial strip in a mainly Sunni area of Beirut. They took up positions
> in corners and sidewalks and stopped the few cars braving the empty
> streets to search their trunks.
>
> On nearby streets, dozens of fighters from another Hezbollah-allied party
> appeared, some wearing masks and carrying rocket-propelled grenade
> launchers.
>
> Lebanon's army, which has stayed out of the sectarian political squabbling
> that has paralyzed the country for more than a year, did not intervene in
> the clashes, which had largely tapered off into sporadic gunfire by early
> afternoon.
>
> Troops then began taking up positions in some Sunni neighborhoods
> abandoned by the pro-government groups. A senior security official said
> the army would soon take over the Sunnis' last stronghold of Tarik
> Jadideh.
>
> In some cases Hezbollah handed over newly won positions to Lebanese
> troops.
>
> The sectarian tensions are fueled in part by the rivalry between
> predominantly Shiite Iran which sponsors Hezbollah, and Sunni Arab
> countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
>
> The leaders of Syria, Hezbollah's other major backer, and Qatar, which
> supports the Lebanese government, met in Damascus and Syria's official
> news agency said both agreed the conflict was an internal affair and hoped
> the feuding parties would find a solution through dialogue.
>
> The Lebanese government, which is allied with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia,
> has only a slim majority in parliament. The two sides have been locked in
> a power struggle that has kept government at a standstill and the country
> without a president since November.
>
> The eruption of the long-simmering tensions appeared to be triggered by
> the government's decision this week to confront Hezbollah by declaring its
> private communications network illegal and replacing the Beirut airport
> security chief for alleged ties to the militants.
>
> Hezbollah first blocked roads in Beirut on Wednesday. Confrontations
> quickly spread and became more violent. Factions threw up roadblocks and
> checkpoints dividing Beirut into sectarian enclaves, and the chattering of
> automatic weapons and thumps of rocket-propelled grenades echoed across
> the city overnight.
>
> Street clashes exploded into gunbattles in parts of Beirut on Thursday
> afternoon after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Lebanon's
> Western-backed government of declaring war on his group. It was the
> militant leader's strongest comments since Lebanon's political crisis
> erupted 17 months ago.
>
> Hariri later went on television urging Hezbollah to pull its fighters back
> and "save Lebanon from hell." He proposed a compromise that would involve
> the army, one of the sole national institutions respected by Lebanon's
> long deadlocked factions.
>
> But Hezbollah and its allies swiftly rejected the offer.
>
> ----end
>
> TC
>
>
>
>