ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF BEIRUT SAFE

The Armenian community of Beirut is safe. The Christian quarters are quiet, Beirut-based Azdak newspaper editor-in-chief Shahan Kankhadaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. “There are soldiers near the Armenian seminary. However, no collisions have been fixed,” he said. “The only problem is that the roads to the airport are blocked over heavy traffic. The flights, including Armavia’s Yerevan-Beirut novelty, have been cancelled,” he said. “Leaders of three Armenian parties reassured Lebanese Armenians that their lives are not in jeopardy. Azdak news service works from early morning till late at night to inform people of the latest developments.” On May 7, demonstrators blocked several roads in and around Beirut with burning tyres on Wednesday as part of an anti-government protest backed by Lebanon’s Hizbullah-led opposition, witnesses said. The main road leading to the capital’s international airport was among routes blocked by the protesters. Sources reported that the protestors tossed a hand grenade on Corniche Mazraa road, injuring three people and two soldiers. The Syrian-backed opposition had urged supporters to back a strike by Lebanon’s main labor union, which is demanding higher wages. A similar opposition-sponsored strike on Jan. 23, 2007, led to serious confrontations between the Hizbullah-led opposition and the March 14 majority that almost sparked civil unrest. Thus, security forces were deployed ahead of a march called by union leaders for later on Wednesday. The strike and protests would force Beirut’s international airport to suspend flights on Wednesday, officials said. According to them, 32 flights to and from the airport had either been delayed or cancelled. The government accused Hizbullah of violating Lebanon’s sovereignty by operating its own communications network and installing spy cameras at Beirut airport. On its part, the Shiite movement said the communications network was part of its security apparatus and had played a major role in its war with Israel in 2006.

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