Lebanon hit by transport strike as divisions run deep

Beirut: Lebanon was hit by a transport drivers' strike on Thursday that led to the blockade of some roads across the country while traffic flowed normally on others - in a reflection of the country's deep political divisions that have also infected the labour unions.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora warned against taking labour disputes to "the street", saying politics and labour demands should be separate and unions should not seek to "score political gains".

The drivers' strike over rising costs was mostly peaceful although troops moved in to prevent rioting.

Soldiers in armoured vehicles and trucks were deployed by early morning on some Beirut intersections where army presence is routine but was evidently beefed up yesterday.

Some unions have also broken away from the labour union federation and opted not to join the strike.

In areas where support for Hezbollah is strong, in south Beirut, southern Lebanon and the northeastern parts of the inland Bekaa Valley, union activists closed roads and some tried to set tires ablaze before security forces moved in and stopped them.

But in cities like Sidon and Tripoli, with strong pro-government backing, life seemed normal.

In Tripoli in the north, dozens of protesters gathered at the central Tal Square, only to disperse peacefully half an hour later. Traffic on highway entrances to Beirut also flowed normally.

In the northeastern Bekaa village of Nabi Othman, a nine-year-old boy was slightly wounded by a bullet in the shoulder when a security agent heading to work opened fire in the air as he tried to clear a closed road to pass through.

Siniora, after talks in Egypt on Thursday with President Hosni Mubarak, said his country's economic problems "have been accumulating for more than three decades" and that it made "no sense to run after bread and make basic demands for better living conditions to score political gains".