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| Civilians Flee and Soldiers Die in Clashes in Lebanon | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| SIDON, Lebanon — Tanks careened through this seaside city, gunfire crackled along near-deserted streets and thick smoke rose from the hilltop neighborhood where followers of a radical Sunni cleric clashed for a second day on Monday with the Lebanese Army, killing at least 12 soldiers. The deaths were the army’s worst losses since the conflict in neighboring Syria began fueling sporadic skirmishes in Lebanon two years ago. | SIDON, Lebanon — Tanks careened through this seaside city, gunfire crackled along near-deserted streets and thick smoke rose from the hilltop neighborhood where followers of a radical Sunni cleric clashed for a second day on Monday with the Lebanese Army, killing at least 12 soldiers. The deaths were the army’s worst losses since the conflict in neighboring Syria began fueling sporadic skirmishes in Lebanon two years ago. |
| During pauses in the battle, families sped away in packed cars, waving white flags improvised from ripped sheets; one even used a bunch of tissues. Taken by surprise, some residents spent the night pinned down in supermarkets, in their offices, in a KFC chicken franchise. | During pauses in the battle, families sped away in packed cars, waving white flags improvised from ripped sheets; one even used a bunch of tissues. Taken by surprise, some residents spent the night pinned down in supermarkets, in their offices, in a KFC chicken franchise. |
| Though the fighting seemed to have eased by early evening, shaken residents said they feared the clashes — which shut down a religiously mixed city of 200,000, left windows shattered in gleaming downtown malls and pitted the army against a provocative cleric who has played on sectarian tensions — revealed that the country was drifting rudderless toward deepening conflict. | Though the fighting seemed to have eased by early evening, shaken residents said they feared the clashes — which shut down a religiously mixed city of 200,000, left windows shattered in gleaming downtown malls and pitted the army against a provocative cleric who has played on sectarian tensions — revealed that the country was drifting rudderless toward deepening conflict. |
| Lebanon’s mainstream political leaders, residents said, appeared powerless or unwilling to rein in the cleric or address his followers’ concerns, leading to a clash they called more dangerous and destabilizing than the perennial battles between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government in the northern city of Tripoli, which have largely been confined to two neighborhoods. In this case, the conflict was rooted in a Lebanese power struggle that resonates throughout the country, a troubling development for a nation that lived through 15 years of sectarian civil war. | Lebanon’s mainstream political leaders, residents said, appeared powerless or unwilling to rein in the cleric or address his followers’ concerns, leading to a clash they called more dangerous and destabilizing than the perennial battles between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government in the northern city of Tripoli, which have largely been confined to two neighborhoods. In this case, the conflict was rooted in a Lebanese power struggle that resonates throughout the country, a troubling development for a nation that lived through 15 years of sectarian civil war. |
| In the emergency room of Hamoud Hospital, which received more than 40 wounded soldiers and 10 injured civilians, several stricken-looking surgeons said the fighting felt like the early skirmishes of the civil war in 1975. Asked whether it could be contained, they cast their gaze downward. | In the emergency room of Hamoud Hospital, which received more than 40 wounded soldiers and 10 injured civilians, several stricken-looking surgeons said the fighting felt like the early skirmishes of the civil war in 1975. Asked whether it could be contained, they cast their gaze downward. |
| “We hope,” one said, as the wail of a woman who had lost her son in the fighting echoed through the corridor. | “We hope,” one said, as the wail of a woman who had lost her son in the fighting echoed through the corridor. |
| The army, in a statement, compared the clashes to violence in Sidon that helped start the civil war, accusing members of Sheik Ahmad al-Assir’s militia of starting it on Sunday by killing soldiers at a checkpoint “in cold blood.” Each side accused the other of provoking the initial clash. The army recently set checkpoints near Mr. Assir’s mosque, after clashes erupted between his militia and Hezbollah supporters. | The army, in a statement, compared the clashes to violence in Sidon that helped start the civil war, accusing members of Sheik Ahmad al-Assir’s militia of starting it on Sunday by killing soldiers at a checkpoint “in cold blood.” Each side accused the other of provoking the initial clash. The army recently set checkpoints near Mr. Assir’s mosque, after clashes erupted between his militia and Hezbollah supporters. |
| Many Sunnis described themselves as torn — between horror that followers of Mr. Assir had attacked the army, one of Lebanon’s few broadly respected national institutions, and the sense that he gives voice to their feelings of resentment over the dominance of the Shiite Muslim organization Hezbollah. Sunni anger has been magnified by Hezbollah’s military intervention in Syria against an uprising that many Lebanese Sunnis support. | Many Sunnis described themselves as torn — between horror that followers of Mr. Assir had attacked the army, one of Lebanon’s few broadly respected national institutions, and the sense that he gives voice to their feelings of resentment over the dominance of the Shiite Muslim organization Hezbollah. Sunni anger has been magnified by Hezbollah’s military intervention in Syria against an uprising that many Lebanese Sunnis support. |
| Munir Ghazzoui, a Lebanese-Canadian, huddling with his family inside their apartment without electricity or water as the fighting caused a blackout, said that whoever had killed the soldiers “should be punished,” and condemned a call that Mr. Assir had issued for Sunni soldiers to defect from the army. | Munir Ghazzoui, a Lebanese-Canadian, huddling with his family inside their apartment without electricity or water as the fighting caused a blackout, said that whoever had killed the soldiers “should be punished,” and condemned a call that Mr. Assir had issued for Sunni soldiers to defect from the army. |
| But he and his family, who are Sunni, said they had been sympathetic to Mr. Assir, and especially to his condemnations of Hezbollah’s alliance with the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Ghazzoui’s daughter, Nawal, said the sheik’s fiery sermons “express what every Sunni house is feeling.” | But he and his family, who are Sunni, said they had been sympathetic to Mr. Assir, and especially to his condemnations of Hezbollah’s alliance with the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Ghazzoui’s daughter, Nawal, said the sheik’s fiery sermons “express what every Sunni house is feeling.” |
| But, she added, “we are against using arms, by anyone.” | But, she added, “we are against using arms, by anyone.” |
| By day’s end, the clashes had ended in confusion. Arrest warrants were issued for Mr. Assir and scores of his followers. The army entered the mosque and said it had discovered large stockpiles of weapons, but Mr. Assir was nowhere to be found. There were even reports that he had fled to Syria. | By day’s end, the clashes had ended in confusion. Arrest warrants were issued for Mr. Assir and scores of his followers. The army entered the mosque and said it had discovered large stockpiles of weapons, but Mr. Assir was nowhere to be found. There were even reports that he had fled to Syria. |
| There were conflicting reports, too, about whether Hezbollah, which has close ties with elements of the army, had aided soldiers in the fight. Hezbollah’s news media described the army as acting alone. Some residents said they had seen people they knew to be Hezbollah fighters firing weapons, or moving through neighborhoods with the army. Others reported shelling from an area where Hezbollah has positions. | There were conflicting reports, too, about whether Hezbollah, which has close ties with elements of the army, had aided soldiers in the fight. Hezbollah’s news media described the army as acting alone. Some residents said they had seen people they knew to be Hezbollah fighters firing weapons, or moving through neighborhoods with the army. Others reported shelling from an area where Hezbollah has positions. |
| The wiry, bespectacled Mr. Assir has widely been seen as a fringe provocateur. Largely unknown before the Syrian war, he rose to prominence with media gimmicks like taking busloads of followers to frolic on a snowy ski slope, discomfiting Christian residents or posing with a machine gun in Syria. | The wiry, bespectacled Mr. Assir has widely been seen as a fringe provocateur. Largely unknown before the Syrian war, he rose to prominence with media gimmicks like taking busloads of followers to frolic on a snowy ski slope, discomfiting Christian residents or posing with a machine gun in Syria. |
| The mainstream Sunni party, the Future Movement, led by the powerful Sidon-based family of Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister assassinated in 2005, has often condemned the cleric’s sectarian rhetoric and use of arms, though Hezbollah supporters accuse the party of secretly backing him. | The mainstream Sunni party, the Future Movement, led by the powerful Sidon-based family of Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister assassinated in 2005, has often condemned the cleric’s sectarian rhetoric and use of arms, though Hezbollah supporters accuse the party of secretly backing him. |
| But in Sidon on Monday, even Future supporters said they did not want to see him defeated, suggesting his support may run deeper. One Sunni man said he had been tempted many times to join Mr. Assir’s militia because it made him feel protected “as a Sunni.” | But in Sidon on Monday, even Future supporters said they did not want to see him defeated, suggesting his support may run deeper. One Sunni man said he had been tempted many times to join Mr. Assir’s militia because it made him feel protected “as a Sunni.” |
| A few blocks away, a Shiite resident and Hezbollah supporter, Inaya Haydar, said Mr. Assir should be arrested, even if it meant heavy fighting. | A few blocks away, a Shiite resident and Hezbollah supporter, Inaya Haydar, said Mr. Assir should be arrested, even if it meant heavy fighting. |
| “Let it take as much as it needs,” Ms. Haydar, a nurse, said after staying up all night to the sounds of gunfire, rocket-propelled grenades and shells and watching from her window as wounded people poured into Hamoud Hospital. | “Let it take as much as it needs,” Ms. Haydar, a nurse, said after staying up all night to the sounds of gunfire, rocket-propelled grenades and shells and watching from her window as wounded people poured into Hamoud Hospital. |
| The cleric, she said, had shown his hypocrisy by calling on Hezbollah to disarm its militia, a perennial issue in Lebanese politics. “What is he doing now?” she said. “He is armed too, and against the Lebanese Army.” | The cleric, she said, had shown his hypocrisy by calling on Hezbollah to disarm its militia, a perennial issue in Lebanese politics. “What is he doing now?” she said. “He is armed too, and against the Lebanese Army.” |
| Mohamed al-Bizri, a member of the municipal council and a dentist who has cared for Mr. Assir’s wife, said many respectable families supported the cleric, who had played positive roles, such as working against drug abuse. | Mohamed al-Bizri, a member of the municipal council and a dentist who has cared for Mr. Assir’s wife, said many respectable families supported the cleric, who had played positive roles, such as working against drug abuse. |
| But politically, he said, Mr. Assir is “a naïve reactionary” who is promoting “segregation” between sects, an idea that he said had no place in a city with a history of coexistence and commerce. Attacking the army, he said, had set back the effort to balance Sunni and Shiite power, but the angst Mr. Assir harnessed remains. | But politically, he said, Mr. Assir is “a naïve reactionary” who is promoting “segregation” between sects, an idea that he said had no place in a city with a history of coexistence and commerce. Attacking the army, he said, had set back the effort to balance Sunni and Shiite power, but the angst Mr. Assir harnessed remains. |
| “In one week or one year,” he said, “there will be a new Assir.” | “In one week or one year,” he said, “there will be a new Assir.” |
Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Sidon, and Kareem Fahim and Hania Mourtada from Beirut, Lebanon. | Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Sidon, and Kareem Fahim and Hania Mourtada from Beirut, Lebanon. |