Violence Escalates

KHARTOUM, Sudan — The violence and ethnic persecution in Sudan's Darfur region could be spreading to the capital in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt here. Sudan's capital of Khartoum had been largely free of the violence that has killed at least 200,000 people and forced 2.5 million from their homes in the western province of Darfur since 2003. That has changed since Saturday, when hundreds of rebels from the Darfur region attacked the capital. The government declared victory after several hours of gunfighting, artillery barrages and airstrikes, though the rebels vowed not to abandon the fight.

BEIRUT (AP) — Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is calling on the army to restore law and order across Lebanon and remove gunmen from the streets. Saniora says Lebanese government can no longer accept that Hezbollah freely hold on to its weapons. The prime minister says Hezbollah has carried out "armed coup" against Lebanese democracy. Saniora is holed up at his government headquarters protected by Lebanese troops after Hezbollah and its allies swept through the Muslim sector of the capital after sectarian clashes.

In the space of just 14 hours, a Shiite militia backed by Iran had seized control of the Sunni heart of an Arab capital. In a development with profound implications for the future of Lebanon and the Mideast as a whole, the Hezbollah movement routed pro-government Sunni forces in the Muslim western half of Beirut on Friday in intense gunbattles that killed 14 people as the Lebanese army declined to intervene. The U.S.-backed Lebanese government called it a "bloody coup" and showed no sign that it was prepared to compromise on Hezbollah's demands, despite the defeat of the outgunned and outmaneuvered militia of the Sunni Future Movement, which went into battle for the first time and lost. Samir Geagea, a Christian spokesman for the March 14 movement that controls the beleaguered Lebanese government, appealed for international assistance in its fight with Hezbollah, which has been demanding that the government step down.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora accused Hezbollah of trying to stage a "militant coup d'etat" on Saturday in his first public comments since violence began three days ago in Beirut. He also called for the army to intervene after Hezbollah militants took control of the Lebanese capital's western suburbs. The Lebanese army did not join the battles that erupted this week. Taking sides could throw the military -- with its own political factions -- into disarray. Soldiers instead effectively negotiated a surrender of pro-government positions, Lebanese Internal Security Forces and Western military observers said.

Heavy fighting broke out between pro- and anti-government supporters in northern Lebanon amid the country's power struggle, security officials said Sunday. Beirut, for four days the focus of bloody sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shiites, spent a quiet night. However, many of its roads remained blocked, including the one to the airport, by the ongoing civil disobedience campaign of the opposition. The heaviest clashes took place in the northern city of Tripoli, where pro-government supporters in the Tebaneh neighborhood exchanged rocket propelled grenades and heavy machine gun fire with opposition followers in Jabal Muhsin, the officials said.

WASHINGTON — Increasing numbers of U.S. troops have left the military with damaged bodies and minds, an ever-larger pool of disabled veterans that will cost the nation billions for decades to comeDespite the decline in total vets — as servicemembers from World War II and Korea die — the government expects to be spending $59 billion a year to compensate injured warriors in 25 years, up from today's $29 billion, according to internal documents obtained by the Associated Press. And the Veterans Affairs Department concedes the bill could be much higher.