(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-07 23:46

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Hezbollah opposition supporters and government backers exchanged gunfire and threw stones Wednesday as a strike by the Shiite militant group paralyzed large parts of Beirut.

An opposition protester holds a gazoline bottle as he stands near a burning car during a protest called by labor unions in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 7, 2008. [Agencies]

The violence deepened tensions in a country already mired in a 17-month-old political crisis pitting the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah against the government of US-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

The troubles have left the country without a president since November.

Explosions and gunfire echoed throughout the city. The cause of the explosions was not immediately known. Few injuries were reported and most were from stone-throwing.

An Associated Press photographer saw gunmen from Hezbollah and its allied Shiite Amal group shooting toward a building that houses a pro-government Sunni group. Police also were seen firing toward a building and at times into the air to try to disperse the crowds.

Labor unions had called for the strike after rejecting a last-minute pay raise offer by the government. Instead, it turned into a showdown between Hezbollah and the government.

The clashes began when government and opposition supporters in a Muslim sector of Beirut exchanged insults and began throwing stones at each other. Witnesses said security forces intervened.

A cameraman for Hezbollah's al-Manar television was beaten by a soldier, the station reported. The state-run National News Agency reported that he was struck in the forehead during the clash.

Bystanders wrapped a shirt on his head to stop the bleeding before he left on his motorcycle.

A soldier was hit in the mouth by a stone and two other news photographers also were hurt by stones, according to witnesses and television reports.

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