AP Photo XPK119
By SAM F. GHATTAS
Associated Press Writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Hezbollah-led protesters paralyzed Lebanon Tuesday by burning tires and cars on major thoroughfares in and around the capital to enforce a general strike that aims to topple the government.
Clustering in small groups to man the blazing roadblocks, opposition supporters escalated their nearly two-month protest. Commuters were stranded and silence hung over many commercial districts amid reports of scattered violence.
Police said seven people suffered gunshot wounds in disturbances between supporters of the guerrilla group and pro-government activists in central and northern Lebanon. Michel Aoun, a senior opposition leader, told Al-Arabiya television that the wounded were all members of the opposition.
Police and troops deployed in the thousands across the country worked to open roads, sometimes negotiating with protesters, but refraining from using force. In some instances, the military separated the opposition and government supporters, who scuffled and hurled rocks and insults.
Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and other opposition leaders called the strike, which was backed by labor unions. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and his supporters urged citizens to ignore the call, a move endorsed by banking associations and business leaders.
Soldiers and firefighters moved in to remove the obstacles clogging streets, but black clouds could be seen billowing into the air around the capital and on major highways in testament to their limited success.
Witness accounts and TV footage suggest that the opposition had shut down many neighborhoods and suburbs of the capital, Beirut, as well as areas around the country. But Beirut Mayor Abdel-Munim Ariss put on a brave face, telling Al-Arabiya television the city was functioning normally.
Many workers stayed home, either in support of the strike or in fear of violence. Some schools which had earlier said they were open sent cell phone text messages to parents announcing closures because of the unrest.
Blazing roadblocks cut off the road to Beirut international airport and the highway linking Beirut with the mountains and the road to Damascus, the Syrian capital.
Aviation officials said the country's only international airport was operating as normal, albeit with fewer staff.
The director general of Civil Aviation, Hamdi Shawq, told Al-Arabiya that the airport was working, but passengers were having difficulty getting to and from it.
Five flights arrived at the airport, six others left but another seven flights were canceled.
Government officials described the disturbances as an attempted coup.
``It is one of the chapters of the putsch,'' said Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh. ``This will fail as in the past, and the legitimate government of Lebanon will remain steadfast,'' he told Al-Arabiya television. In another television interview, he called the protesters ``thugs.''
Another Cabinet minister, Ahmed Fatfat, expressed concern that there would be more violence between the rival sides.
``The opposition is attempting a coup by force ... This is not a strike. This is military action, a true aggression and I'm afraid this could develop into clashes between citizens,'' Fatfat, the youth and sports minister, told Al-Arabiya.
The strike came two days before Saniora and his economic team seek financial aid for Lebanon at an international donors' conference in Paris. The opposition has also said the grants and loans - which local analysts set at around $5 billion - would only increase the national debt and further weaken the economy, hard hit by the summer war between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel.
A Saniora aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the prime minister was still in Beirut following the developments, contrary to earlier media reports that he had left for France.
The strike has deepened the existing political divisions. The anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, made up of mostly Sunni Muslims, Druse and Christians, backs Saniora. The opposition is led by the pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim Hezbollah, and includes also some Druse and Christians.
The opposition has been camped out since Dec. 1 in front of the prime minister's office in downtown Beirut and has staged several protests to press its demands. Troops have been deployed in central Beirut for weeks to keep order. But the action has largely been peaceful.
Nasrallah urged supporters late Monday to participate in an ``effective and powerful manner'' in the strike. He reiterated the demand by Hezbollah and its allies for a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet - a request that Saniora has rejected.
Hours earlier, Saniora criticized Hezbollah's tactics, saying the Iranian and Syrian backed group wanted to give the world ``a disturbing picture of Lebanon.''
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