Lebanon looking into alleged Hezbollah cameras at airport

Airplanes are seen in the tarmac of Rafik Hariri International Airport, center, where buildings around it overlook the runway, in an area that is mainly inhabited by Shiites and where Hezbollah is known to have wide support, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, May 5, 2008. Judicial officials say that Lebanon's top prosecutor has begun an investigation into reports that Hezbollah had set up surveillance cameras near Beirut airport to monitor foreign leaders and anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

BEIRUT, Lebanon—Lebanon began an investigation Monday into allegations that the militant Hezbollah group set up surveillance cameras near the Beirut airport to monitor the comings and goings of anti-Syria Lebanese politicians and foreign dignitaries.

The charges have intensified political tensions in the country, giving a new twist to the war of words between Lebanese factions that support the Western-backed parliament majority and the Hezbollah-led pro-Syria opposition.

Judicial officials said Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza ordered the investigation after receiving documents from the defense and interior ministers about Hezbollah's alleged placement of cameras just outside the airport in the Lebanese capital.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said military prosecutor Sami Sader also was questioning witnesses in the case.

A senior Shiite Muslim cleric who backs the militant Hezbollah, Sheik Abdul-Amir Kabalan, warned the government to back off the case or risk jeopardizing security at the nation's only international airport.

The dispute erupted Saturday when anti-Syria leader Walid Jumblatt accused Hezbollah of putting cameras around the airport, which is in the predominantly Shiite southern Beirut suburbs and where the militant group has wide support. Many buildings in the area overlook the runways.

Hezbollah quickly dismissed the allegation.

Political divisions have paralyzed Lebanon's government for months. The Shiite-Sunni tensions led to sporadic street violence over the weekend, in which two people were injured.

Despite Lebanon's political turmoil, there have been no major incidents involving the Beirut airport. Its runway was bombed by Israeli warplanes during the summer 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, when the airport was closed for about two months.

The airport made headlines during the country's 1975-90 civil war. In 1985, a TWA jetliner was hijacked by Shiite militants who fatally shot a passenger, U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, and dumped his body on the tarmac.

Amid escalating tensions in recent months, Shiite rioters have blocked roads linking the airport with the capital on two occasions.