The death toll rose to seven in riots which broke out between
the Lebanese army and the demonstrators in southern suburb of
Beirut on Sunday.
"Seven demonstrators were killed in the protest," which was
staged by Lebanese opposition parties over frequent power cuts, an
anonymous source from the opposition party Hezbollah told
Xinhua.
An earlier report said three protestors were killed, which
included two members from the opposition movement Amal and a third
member from Hezbollah. Over 20 others were also injured in the
riots.
Hamza, 35, was shot dead as he was working with the coordination
committee between the demonstrators and the Lebanese army. His
death raised more violence and expanded to the airport road and Mar
Elias area where demonstrators also blocked roads by burning
tiers.
"At 16:00 local time, some protestors tried to block the road of
Mar Mikhail, the army immediately intervened to disperse the
protest," the Army command said earlier in a statement.
"But unidentified fire hit the protestors killing at least two
of them and wounding 19 others," the statement said, adding that
the army will immediately open an investigation to find out the
source of fire.
The clashes broke out when the army tried to stop some
protestors blocking traffic with burning tires in Mar Mikhail - Al
Cheyah in the southern suburb of Beirut.
At around 4:00 p.m. (1400 GMT), some 50 demonstrators started
burning tiers closing the road linking Mar Michael to Al Cheyah in
protest against power cuts, chanting slogans against the government
of Premier Fouad Seniora, local LBC TV reported.
Lebanon is currently facing the most serious political deadlock
since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. For the first time in its
history, the presidential seat has been vacant since November 24 of
2007 when former President Emile Lahoud stepped down.
A long-awaited parliamentary session to elect president has been
postponed for a 13th time, from January 21 to February 11.
The presidency deadlock deepened the Lebanese political crisis
as fears are mounting that failure in reaching a deal on the
presidential candidate could result in more violence in the
country.
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(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2008)
