Four students die in battle at university

LEBANON: A three-hour battle between opposition and government supporters at a Beirut university yesterday left four students…

LEBANON:A three-hour battle between opposition and government supporters at a Beirut university yesterday left four students dead and 35 wounded.

The army, which struggled to keep the two sides apart by firing into the air, declared a curfew last night in an attempt to end further skirmishes. Opposition and government leaders urged supporters to stay off the streets.

The trouble at Beirut Arab University, which marked the third day of violence and protests in Lebanon, began as an argument between supporters of the Shia opposition party Amal and those loyal to the prime minister Fouad Siniora's party, the largely Sunni Mustaqbal.

Young men wielding heavy sticks lashed out at parked cars, screaming furiously amid the gunfire. Armoured vehicles full of troops navigated their way through burning cars. - (Guardian service)