(12 Dec 2007)
544711
AP TELEVISION
Beirut - 23 Nov 2007
Arabic/Natsound
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Wide of exterior of Baabda Presidential Palace
2. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Rafik Shalala, Presidential spokesman:
"The army is instructed to maintain security on Lebanese territory. The emergency rule puts all of the armed forces at its disposal."
544721
AP TELEVISION
Beirut/Baabda - 24 Nov 2007
Arabic/English/Nat
++NIGHT SHOTS++
3. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud leaving palace
4. Lahoud reviewing honour guard
545157
AP TELEVISION
Tripoli - 27 Nov 2007
++NIGHT SHOTS++
5. Wide of Lebanese Army troops patrolling in area of clashes
6. Armoured Personnel Carrier and Lebanese troops
7. Armoured Personnel Carrier passing scene
546881
AP TELEVISION
Beirut - 12 December 2007/FILE
Baabda, east of Beirut
8. Fire fighters tackling the burning vehicles at bomb site
FILE: AP Television
Lebanon - Date Unknown
9. Mid of Brigadier General Hajj at a news conference at the Lebanese Defence Ministry
STORYLINE:
President Emile Lahoud said on November 23rd that Lebanon was in a "state of emergency" and ordered the army to take over security, hours before he was due to step down without a successor potentially leaving the divided country in a political vacuum.
The government rejected the move, raising tensions in the troubled country.
The president was said to be unable to declare a state of emergency without approval from the government, but Lahoud's spokesman said the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora was considered unconstitutional.
A presidential spokesman said the army had been instructed to preserve security throughout Lebanon.
"The President of the Republic declares that a state of emergency exists throughout Lebanon as of Nov. 24, 2007. The army is instructed to maintain security on Lebanese territory. The emergency rule puts all of the armed forces at its disposal," Rafik Shalala said.
Saniora's government, which had been meeting at government house in Beirut as the announcement was made at the presidential palace in suburban Baabda, rejected the announcement.
One man was killed and eight others injured in Tripoli, Lebanon's second biggest city, on November 27th after clashes between "Al Tawheed" Islamic fundamentalists and supporters of the pro government "Future Stream."
"Al-Tawheed" is a pro-Syrian Islamic Sunni faction and part of Lebanon's opposition alliance, while "Future Stream" is the main supporter of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's government.
Both factions are reported to have used machine guns and pistols before the Lebanese Army intervened.
On December 12th an early morning car bomb attack killed one of Lebanon's top military generals and at least three others as they drove through a Christian suburb of Beirut, Baabda, adding more fuel to the country's political turmoil, the military and state media said.
The military said Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj, head of military operations in the army command, was killed in the explosion along with several other soldiers.
His name had been mentioned as a candidate to succeed army commander Michel Suleiman, if he is elected president.
The blast is the first attack of its kind against the Lebanese army which is seen as the one force that can hold the country together as increasingly acrimonious relations between parliament's rival factions over the past several months have paralyzed the government.
"This morning, the criminal hand targeted head of army operations Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj with a bomb as he drove in his car opposite Baabda municipality, which led to his death along with
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