42 seconds ago 2009-07-19T09:11:43-07:00
BEIRUT (AFP) – The Lebanese army on Monday pledged to arrest those involved in armed clashes that left a woman bystander dead in mainly Muslim west Beirut.
"We will continue to prosecute each and every person involved in the clashes," an army spokesman told AFP.
The fighting with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades on Sunday pitted supporters of Shiite parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri's Amal movement against backers of prime minister-designate Saad Hariri's Future Movement in the Aisha Bakkar district.
The army said all gunmen on the streets risked being shot by soldiers as the military was deployed to regain control, but a 30-year-old woman was killed by a stray bullet before calm was restored.
The clashes came only a day after Sunni leader Hariri was named prime minister and after Berri's re-election as speaker last Thursday.
"No one has political cover," said the army in a statement. "We will not allow a bunch of hooligans to take advantage of a situation in order to stir up sedition and undermine general stability in the country."
It said the army had 42 names on a wanted list and had detained some suspects, while Lebanon's National News Agency reported eight people were arrested on Monday.
Relatives of the woman killed in the clashes burned tires and cut off roads in the area on Monday, but the army quickly intervened to control the situation, local television reported.
While some shops reopened, others remained closed in the wake of the clashes, which left cars and property destroyed.
In May 2008, gunmen of the Hezbollah-led opposition, which included Amal, seized control of mainly Sunni parts of west Beirut in sectarian clashes that killed more than 100 people.
