Four shot dead in Beirut University street battle

Four people were shot dead in Beirut when an argument in a university cafeteria between two Muslim groups exploded into a street battle.

More than 100 were injured, many by gunfire, during the clashes at the city's Arab University.

The battle grew out of an argument in the cafeteria between pro-government Sunni Muslims and supporters of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah opposition movement.

Fighting with sticks and stones began on the university campus then spilled into nearby streets. It developed into exchanges of gunfire from assault rifles and pistols involving students and residents from both sides.

Two opposition students and two other people were shot dead. It was not immediately clear who opened fire, but rival TV stations blamed each other's camps for the fighting.

Soldiers fired into the air to try to disperse the crowds. Thick smoke rose from the area, where rioters had set cars and tyres on fire.

Troops used military trucks to evacuate scores of civilians trapped on the streets by the violence. The army declared a night curfew in Beirut after the clashes and leaders of both sides appealed for calm.

An opposition campaign against the U.S.-backed government, which is struggling to recover from last year's war with Israel, has raised tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.

The opposition launched protests on Tuesday that shut down much of Lebanon and sparked violence in which three died and 176 were wounded. It wants veto power in government and early parliamentary elections.

Yesterday's clashes cast a shadow over a Paris conference where the Lebanese government won more than £3.9billion in grants and soft loans from the Arab Monetary Fund, the World Bank and countries including the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to help it cope with its £20billion debt mountain and recover from last year's war and from the 1975-90 civil war.