Chaos in Lebanon

Protesters bent on toppling Lebanon's Cabinet blocked roads with blazing tyres yesterday, sparking clashes with government loyalists in which police said three people were killed and 133 people hurt.

The violence raised the stakes in a campaign by Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hizbollah and its Shi'ite and Christian allies to oust Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's Western-supported government. Mr Siniora, a Sunni Muslim, vowed to stand firm.

The opposition called an end to yesterday's anti-government strike but said in a statement it would conduct "more effective" protests in the future to achieve its demands of a unity government and early elections.

A senior opposition source and witnesses said roadblocks had been lifted, including barriers on the airport road.

"The opposition calls on the authoritarian side to draw the lessons of this great event for which we hold it responsible," the statement said.

In a televised speech earlier, Mr Siniora said: "We will stay together against intimidation. We will stand together against strife.

"Today's general strike turned into actions and harassment that overstepped all limits and rekindled memories of times of strife, war and hegemony," he said.

The street trouble prompted him to delay his departure for an international conference on aid for Lebanon to be held in Paris tomorrow.

The United States called on all sides to exercise restraint and settle differences peacefully, saying the protests were designed as a distraction from the aid talks. French President Jacques Chirac said the protests could discourage donors.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who planned to attend the Paris conference, urged all parties to resolve their differences peacefully, his spokesman said.

"It is essential that all parties within Lebanon work through the democratic process and return to dialogue as a means of addressing their political differences," chief UN spokesman Michele Montas said.

Lebanese troops tried to keep rival groups apart, but police said a member of the Christian, pro-government Lebanese Forces party was shot dead in the town of Batroun, north of Beirut.

Two people were shot dead in the mainly Sunni Muslim northern port of Tripoli. Police said gunfire wounded about 50 people, many of them in Christian areas.