Sunday 17 February 2008
Arrived in Cyprus last night and will be staying in Nicosia until 24 Feb.
Meanwhile, the following was published on the website Ya Lubnan today
Breaking News: Lebanon army intervenes to end clashes in Beirut
Sunday, 17 February, 2008 @ 12:49 AM
Beirut - Lebanese army troops intervened to restore order as pro-government and opposition supporters engaged in fist fights and beat each other with sticks in Ras el-Nabaa,
a Muslim neighborhood of Beirut late Saturday, police and TV stations reported.
Gunfire was heard in the melee but it was not clear who fired and there was no immediate word on casualties from the police.
Television footage showed scores of riot police backed by helmeted troops manning armored carriers taking up positions. At least two persons were shown injured in the footage.
Aljadeed TV showed a man, his right cheek bloodied, speaking on a mobile phone. Paramedics carried another man on a stretcher into an ambulance. The station read out names of 11 people reportedly injured in the clashes and said several cars were damaged. They are as follows.
Mohammad Tabbara, Firas Al-Halabi, Hassan Dogan, Saad Mansour, Hassan Mansour, Khader Al-Turk, Ahmed Morsi, Ahmad al-Halabi, Mohammed Wahby, Hassan Arnaout, Ziad Shehab
The total number of wounded was 14 and all have reportedly been taken to nearby hospitals
State-run National News Agency reported trouble in other Beirut neighborhoods and they are:
Khandaq al Ghameek, Barbeer, Beshara el Khoury , Mazraa
Such clashes have become common in recent weeks as tensions escalate between rival Lebanese camps and the country’s 15-month-old political crisis deepens.
The Beirut neighborhood of Ras el-Nabaa where the scuffle erupted late Saturday has in the last four days been the scene of sporadic clashes between supporters of the pro-Western government and the pro-Syrian, Hezbollah-led opposition.
Clashes Saturday spread to three nearby neighborhoods, according to TV reports, but ended within a couple of hours.
The neighborhoods involved have a mix of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, whose loyalties are split along the political divide. Shiites support the pro-Syrian opposition as the militant Shiite Hezbollah group does, while Sunnis support the U.S.-backed government.
Hezbollah’s al-Manar television later said that followers of a pro-government group tried to storm an opposition’s office at Ras el-Nabaa but the report could not be independently verified.
A Shiite opposition protest over electricity cuts in south Beirut neighborhoods last month degenerated into a riot, prompting troops to open fire. Seven people were killed in that violence.
Update - 1: 00 AM Sunday
According to the Sunday An Nahar daily the number of wounded has risen to 20 . Most of the wounded were taken to the nearby al Maqassed hospital
Several apartments and cars in Ras el Nabbaa and Beshara el Khoury were set ablaze
The army intervened and ended the clashes and the situation is currently under control
Both Hezbollah and Amal have denied that their members were involved in these clashes , despite the fact that all the reports blamed them for initiating the riots.
Lebanese army soldiers, are seen through a broken car windshield as they secure a road in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008. 
A Lebanese man passes by a car with a broken windshield as they secure a road in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008.Sources: AP, IHT, Ya Libnan