By NNN-KUNA,
Beirut : Pro-government forces in Lebanon have called on Arab countries and the international community to bear responsibility over the volatile situation in Lebanon.
“What is going on in Lebanon today is an armed coup instigated by Iran and launched by Hezbollah, which will throw the country into a circle of the Iranian project and decision,” they said in a statement.
They voiced full support for the Lebanese government led by Fouad Seniora in its defence of the country’s sovereignty and its recent strict decisions on the Rafiq Hariri International Airport and a telecommunication network set up by Hezbollah at several Lebanese areas.
Tension rose on Tuesday following the government’s announcement it would shut down Hezbollah’s private telecommunications network.
The head of airport security was also dismissed amid allegations he had allowed Hezbollah to set up spy cameras at the airport. Hezbollah strongly denied the claim.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Mufti Mohamed Rashid Qabbani said Hezbollah had turned from a group of resistance against occupation into an armed force to occupy Beirut.
He said that the Lebanese people would not be able to stand any more security and political adventures.
Speaking in a televised sermon Wednesday, the Mufti said “the serious security events that exploded in Beirut constituted, in their style and goals, a blatant aggression on the nation, its sovereignty and legitimacy.”
“We thought that it was a union call for strike, but it turned out to be disobedience and overrunning by armed gangs of Beirut streets,” he said.
Qabbani urged Hezbollah leaders to order militants off the streets of Beirut and to break the sit-in protest in the middle of the capital.
Explosions and gunfire rang out across Beirut as opposition supporters held a one-day general strike calling for higher pay. Strikers set up barricades of burning tyres on key routes to the port, airport and Beirut’s commercial centre.
The cause of the explosions was not clear, but reports say armed opposition and pro-government groups may have fired rocket-propelled grenades.
Lebanon has been without a head of state for five months because of a power struggle between government and opposition forces.