BEIRUT - Much of Lebanon remains paralyzed, Tuesday, as supporters of the pro-Syrian Hezbollah group block Lebanon’s coastal highway and main thoroughfares in Beirut and other cities. This is all a bid to impose a general strike on the rest of the population.

A column of tanks rolls down Hamra Street - one of Beirut’s main commercial thoroughfares - as Lebanese Army troops attempt to reopen avenues blocked by supporters and allies of the Hezbollah guerilla group.

A crowd of mostly young men scuffles with police, further down the road, burning tires and attempting to block traffic, as thick clouds of black smoke pour into the air.

On the road to Beirut Airport, young men have erected a barrier of burning tires and play soccer on the highway, as army troops and police stand by and watch.

A top opposition leader and Hezbollah ally, General Michel Aoun, accuses the government and its supporters of attacking and injuring some demonstrators.

“Demonstrators were attacked in northern Lebanon, around the port city of Byblos, and in the town of Jounieh, by gangs allied to the government,” he said.

Hezbollah’s al Manar TV is continues to broadcast non-stop images of demonstrators burning tires, amid accusations the government of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora is not performing its duties to the people.

In Beirut’s city center, several rows of army troops, surrounded by barbed wire, mount vigil in front of the prime minister’s office, as protesters block traffic along a nearby bridge.

Al Arabiya TV reports Prime Minister Fouad Saniora remains holed up inside the old refurbished Ottoman fortress that serves as his headquarters, keeping a close tab of the situation.

Mr. Saniora had been expected to leave Beirut, early Tuesday, to attend an international donor’s conference in Paris to help relieve some of Lebanon’s $41 billion debt.

Lebanese Minister of Youth and Sport Ahmed Fatfat - a key supporter of the prime minister - complains demonstrators are trying to impose their strike on what he calls “an unwilling population.”

Source:  VOA News