Lebanese army says will intervene from Tuesday

By Nadim Ladki

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's army said it will use force from Tuesday to stop fighting in the country between pro- and anti-government forces that has recalled the 1975-90 civil war.

"Army units will halt violations... in accordance with the law, even if that leads to the use of force," a military statement said on Monday. The order would be implemented from 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Tuesday.

In the northern city of Tripoli, pro-government Sunni Muslim gunmen and militiamen allied to Hezbollah guerrillas fought on Monday in violence that has overturned the balance of power.

The upheaval began when Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies overran the strongholds of their Sunni political foes in Beirut last week.

Six people were wounded in sporadic gun battles between Sunni fighters in Tripoli's Bab Tebbaneh area and pro-Hezbollah Alawites in neighboring Jebel Mohsen, security sources said.

Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies have swept through Beirut and hills to the east in a series of dramatic victories since May 7, defeating loyalists of the U.S.-backed government before handing their conquests to the Lebanese army, which has stayed out of the fighting so far.

At least 36 people were killed on Sunday in fighting between Hezbollah and its pro-government Druze opponents east of Beirut, bringing the overall toll to 81 dead and about 250 wounded.

Parliament postponed a vote on a new Lebanese president for the 19th time, delaying the session to June 10 from Tuesday.

Hezbollah's success has dealt a blow to the ruling Sunni-led coalition and its main patron, the United States, which has cast the country as a fragile democracy endangered by the ambitions of Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian backers.

"The president you can bet is going to be talking about this while he's on his trip," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, referring to U.S. President George W. Bush's visit this week to the Middle East.

Bush is due to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in Egypt on Sunday.

U.S. DESTROYER COLE

The U.S. destroyer Cole passed through the Suez Canal to the eastern Mediterranean on Sunday. The ship deployed off Lebanon in February as a show of support to Siniora's government.

Hezbollah and its allies fought the 2005 parliamentary poll in an electoral alliance with the ruling coalition parties, although their agreement later broke down in acrimony.

A precarious calm prevailed in Beirut, where politicians prepared to meet Arab League mediators.