The Hezbollah-led protesters continued with their apparent coup d'etat, by blocking the road to the Rafik Hariri International airport.

Reports have also emerged that the Masnaa road which connects Lebanon by land to Syria has been blocked. This virtually isolates Lebanon completely from the rest of the world.

Pro-government activists have reportedly blocked the the Masnaa road in retaliation for the blocking of the airport road by Hezbollah.

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, is expected to hold a news conference via video link later in the day in response to the measures the government took against his group

In a cabinet meeting on Monday that lasted till early Tuesday, the government declared the Hezbollah communications network as illegal and called for its elimination. The cabinet also fired the Lebanese security chief General Shuccair at the airport for collaborating with the Shiite Hezbollah movement in the case of the spying at the Beirut airport. Shuccair, who is also a Shiite, refused to abide by the government decision and returned to work at the airport.

Hezbollah protesters continued to burn tires to block the main roads. They also used the garbage containers to block the roads by setting them on fire.

The violence started early morning Wednesday ahead of the planned protest by the labor union for higher wages. According to eyewitnesses Hezbollah used the occasion to try and bring down the government.

Six people were reported wounded in the Beqaa region (Saadnayel-Taalbaya), near the eastern town of Chtaura as the protest escalated into shootouts between government and opposition supporters. One of the wounded died later at the hospital

Hezbollah Roadblocks

• Dahr el-Baidar road is closed


• Mdoukha-Kefraya road in Western Beqaa is closed


• Lebanese army troops closed all roads between Shiyah and Ein el-Rummaneh, the former demarcation line between Christian and Muslim areas and where the 1975-90 civil war began.


• Beqaa and Deir Zanoun road in Baalbek remains closed


• All roads blocked by Hezbollah protesters on Wednesday remain closed


• Hezbollah protestors blocked Salim Salam bridge with cement barricades

The army and riot police manned checkpoints throughout the city and blocked several roads while many schools and businesses in the capital remained shut for the second straight day.

Armed Hezbollah and Amal supporters, many hooded or masked, were seen in several areas of Beirut.

Lebanon's national airline MEA has announced that all outgoing flights had been cancelled until at least 4:00 Beirut time, but it was unclear whether normal traffic would resume after that.

One flight to London reportedly left Beirut early on Thursday.

Tags: Airport, Amal, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah, MEA, riots, source: Ya Libnan, Violence