Lebanon backtracks 'arms-free' calls

LEBANON: A chorus of calls for an "arms-free" Beirut in the wake of a deadly battle outside a mosque last week is fast fading as Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah warns against attempts to disarm the Shiite party.

After an August 24 gunfight between supporters of Hezbollah and those of Sunni faction Al-Ahbash two Syrian-backed parties loosely allied in Lebanon western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri launched a campaign calling for Beirut to be stripped of its omnipresent weapons.

But Hezbollah has cautioned the Hariri camp against making mention of its military prowess. "As usual, the situation is very, very precarious on all levels," said Sahar Atrache, Middle East and North Africa analyst with the International Crisis Group.

"Having these weapons spread everywhere is alarming, especially as security and stability in Lebanon are clearly not under control," Atrache told AFP in Beirut.

"And again, what we do in Lebanon is try to handle the immediate consequences of the situation, and not the overall situation." The four-hour street battle began as a row over a parking space in the west Beirut district of Burj Abi Haidar last week and saw automatic machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades surface in the streets.

The violence raised fears of a repeat of May 2008, when gunmen supporting a Hezbollah-led alliance clashed with supporters of the Sunni prime minister.

Close to 100 people died in the week-long battle which saw the Hezbollah camp seize control of much of west Beirut.

A slew of ministers and security officials held meetings this week to forge an agreement on arms control in the capital, but failed to announce what measures, if any, the state would take.

Beirut, AFP