Officials closed the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut Thursday morning as Hizballah supported demonstrators blocked the entrance with burning tires and mounds of earth. Riots and gunbattles erupted for the second straight day amid labor protests and opposition to electoral laws ushering former military commander Michel Suleiman to the presidency. Former President Emile Lahoud stepped down in November leaving Lebanon without a head of state.
Hizballah and other opposition leaders said they would protest in “civil disobedience” Thursday, though there were reports of gunbattles in the eastern Bekaa Valley. Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah scheduled his first press conference in two years to discuss the opposition Thursday.
Lebanese riot police and army personnel deployed to the capital Beirut to prevent clashes between the opposition and pro-government supporters. A protester with a percussive grenade wounded several Lebanese soldiers and civilians Wednesday and local television reports showed demonstrators with bloody faces.
