Nine Dead In Hizbullah-Led Riots In Lebanon

Nine were killed and dozens injured when Hezbollah-led opposition supporters protested against the power blackouts and the living conditions throughout Lebanon today .



The protests followed a massive bomb blast on Friday which killed a senior Lebanese intelligence officer and three others in the east of the capital.

According to political observers Hezbollah has decided to direct its arms against the Lebanese army and the internal security forces . "This is the reason for the escalation of violence against the armed forces and the Internal security forces " , Ahmad Yasseen, a political observer told Ya Libnan

The latest deaths come at a time of acute political instability in Lebanon as deadlock between pro-Syrian and pro-Western parties drags on.

The demonstrations that led to the riots were initiated by Hizbullah thugs, who claimed that their neighborhoods were experiencing blackouts. Funny thing is that the Lebanese electric company says that there were no blackouts. They also say that Hizbullah and their ally Amal don't pay for electricity.

Curious. Very curious.

Is Hizbullah trying to take a page from the Hamas playbook by formenting instability and violence by propaganda against their enemies? It certainly seems that way.

CNN's reporting takes a slightly different tact. They report that one of those killed in the clashes was killed by a sniper, but the circumstances are unclear. Some are accusing a military sniper of killing the protestor who was actually trying to work with the military in dispersing the protestors but I'd put my money on Hizbullah thugs being responsible since it is in their interest to increase the tensions in Lebanon. Hizbullah suffered a setback because their plan to stuff the Lebanese parliament failed.

Abu Kais at From Beirut to Beltway is sick of the inability of the Lebanese authorities to name names in this war against the Lebanese people. Syrian culpability in the multiple assassinations goes unpunished because instead of naming names, they continue to claim that they're investigating the matter - even as the investigators themselves get targeted with assassination.