The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Beirut

The Lebanese army was out in force on Monday in areas outside Beirut that were the scene of fierce sectarian clashes as Arab ministers prepared to send a team to try to end a crisis that has driven the nation to the brink of civil war.

Troops moved into the Druze mountains southeast of the capital, where supporters of the Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition had engaged in heavy battles on Sunday.

In Beirut, the situation was calm although schools and some businesses remained shut following five days of unrest that has left 47 people dead and scores wounded in the worst sectarian violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.

The showdown between Hezbollah and the ruling bloc saw the powerful Shiite militant group seize large swathes of Muslim west Beirut, dramatically raising the stakes in the country's 18-month political crisis.

US-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has accused his rivals of staging a coup while the Future Movement of parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri said the opposition was trying to "turn Beirut into another Baghdad."

Opposition fighters withdrew from the streets after the Lebanese army acted to overturn two government measures against Hezbollah that triggered the fighting last week.

But some barricades put up by Hezbollah fighters and their allies remained and the road to Beirut internatinal airport was shut for the sixth straight day, reflecting a continuing civil disobedience campaign by the opposition.

There are fears the situation could escalate again against the backdrop of seething hatred between Sunni Arabs and their allies who support the ruling bloc and Shiites who back the opposition.

"Lebanon today is but a ship drifting, an arena of macabre games where fighters are victims as well as executioners," said the French-language newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour.