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FIERY PROTESTS: A Hizbollah supporter burning tyres, blocking the highway to Lebanon's international airport. -- PHOTO: AP
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BEIRUT - FIERCE gunbattles erupted in Beirut yesterday after Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah charged that a Lebanese government crackdown on his group's activities was tantamount to a 'declaration of war'.
It was the second day of clashes which has turned some city neighbourhoods into battle fronts.
The long-running political crisis threatened to spiral dangerously out of control despite urgent appeals for calm.
The crisis erupted on Wednesday during a general strike over price increases and wage demands.
'If this situation continues, everyone will lose and this will affect the unity of the military,' the army command warned.
Supporters of the Western-backed government and the Hizbollah-led opposition were engaged in shoot-outs in at least three mixed Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim neighbourhoods of the capital, with militants using rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns.
There were no reports of casualties, although armed clashes in other towns earlier left at least eight people wounded.
Mr Nasrallah said his Shi'ite militant group was ready to use its weapons.
'The (government) decisions are tantamount to a declaration of war and the start of a war...on behalf of the United States and Israel,' he charged at a rare press conference via video link.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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