“Gun battles raged across western and southern Beirut, leaving 10 people dead, as fighters from the Shiite group Hezbollah pressed their party’s challenge to Lebanon’s pro-Western government. Masked bands of Shiite gunmen were shown by television networks as they roamed neighborhoods dominated by Sunni Muslims, who largely back Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s administration. The army was deployed in parts of the capital to control the unrest. In addition to the deaths in Beirut in three days of violence, five civilians were hurt as fighting erupted in the Bekaa Valley, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.” (05/09/08)