Protests in Beirut take deadly turn

Dubai: Beirut erupted in fury on Sunday as Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo for talks on Lebanon's political crisis and developments in Gaza.

Two activists from the Amal movement were killed in the Lebanese capital when the army opened fire to break up a protest against power cuts, Amal officials said.

"We lost one of our youths," an Amal official told Reuters, giving the victim's name as Ali Hassan Hamza. Another was killed later.

The death toll in opposition protests rose later in the night to seven, a Lebanese opposition source said. Media reports put the figure at nine.

The source said at least five of those killed were opposition activists. At least 22 people were wounded.

The Lebanese opposition group urged its supporters to halt protests. "We have no link to this action. We call on people not to react. We call on them to pull out of the streets," senior Amal official Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters.

One soldier was wounded when the protesters threw stones at security forces in the Mar Makhaeil area of southern Beirut, security sources said.

About 50 protesters had blocked the roads in the area with burning tyres. Live pictures from Al Jazeera television showed blazing tyres blocking the main road between Beirut and the airport. Local television station LBC said three people were wounded in the incident.

The demonstrations came as Arab League chief Amr Mousa was holding talks in Cairo with several Arab diplomats ahead of the extraordinary meeting to discuss an Arab intiative to end the stalemate in Lebanon.

Mousa has held several rounds of talks with Leb-anon's feuding political leaders to arrive at a formula to elect a new president and end the crisis which has left the country without a president since November 23.

The League chief is expected to deliver a report on his mediation efforts.

In the report, obtained by AFP, he will urge Arab countries to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the political crisis and heal the deep mistrust in Lebanon.

He will also urge the foreign ministers to "continue efforts to provide the appropriate atmosphere on the Arab, regional and international fronts to aid the Arab League in its efforts with the Lebanese parties in a positive manner.

"The efforts should take into account the political and security fears and suspicions of the two sides, and their place in Leb-anese politics, with its Arab, regional and international dimensions.

"The differences between the two sides on the formation of the cabinet reflect the extent of the lack of trust between them, and have implications that go beyond just numbers," he said.

The foreign ministers will also discuss developments in the Gaza Strip, where residents poured through the breaches in the border into Egypt for a fifth day in a row.