Fighting in Mount Lebanon rages between pro and anti-government supporters

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Source: CCTV.com | 05-12-2008 08:33

Heavy fighting between pro and anti-government supporters has broken out in the mountain areas of central Lebanon. The country has hung between fears of all-out war and hopes of political compromise.

Heavy fighting between pro and anti-government  supporters has broken out in the mountain areas of central Lebanon.

Fighting shifted outside Beirut on the weekend. Sunday saw the collapse of pro-government forces in the Aley region near the capital, a stronghold of the anti-Syrian Druse.

Beirut was quiet a day after Hezbollah gunmen left the streets, heeding an army call for the Shiite fighters to clear out.

The city suffered four days of Sunni-Shiite clashes that culminated with Hezbollah seizing large swaths of West Beirut.

Since Wednesday, 38 people have been killed---the worst sectarian violence since Lebanon's civil war in 1975.

The violence grew out of a power struggle between the Hezbollah-led opposition and the government. The opposition quit the Cabinet 18 months ago, demanding a veto over government decisions. The deadlock has kept parliament from electing a new president since last November.