Beirut: Lebanese army troops prevented a group of Hezbollah supporters from reaching the border with Israel yesterday to stage a protest, witnesses said.
Soldiers recently deployed in the border town of Kfar Kila stopped buses carrying 100 Hezbollah supporters, mostly young boys, who were travelling to the nearby Fatima Gate border fence to stage a demonstration.
The troops told the demonstrators they could not go further and blocked the road with two armoured personnel carriers. After an hour of negotiations, the troops allowed a small group of 12 boys to hang up a large caricature poster mocking US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the border fence, the witnesses said.
The incident happened as Rice was on her way to Israel from Cairo, Egypt.
It was the first time the army was known to have intervened to stop a demonstration along the volatile border.
It came a week after Israel's army chief said Israeli soldiers have been instructed to shoot Lebanese stone-throwers along the border if they feel their lives are in danger.
Israeli Cabinet ministers at yesterday's weekly meeting were outraged over a protest on Friday in which several dozen Hezbollah supporters threw stones across the border at Israeli soldiers. Some of the ministers criticised the army for not responding to the violent protest.
