... blocking roads in the capital and forcing Lebanon's only international airport to close in a major escalation of a long-running political crisis. Three people were reported wounded in the east of the country as a general strike descended into shootouts between government and opposition supporters.

All eyes were on Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was due to hold a rare news conference via video link later in the day in response to government measures against his Shia Muslim militant group.

The army and riot police manned checkpoints throughout the city and blocked several roads while many schools and businesses in the capital remained shut for the second straight day.

Armed men, some hooded or masked, were seen in several areas of Beirut.

Protesters burned tyres and lit fires inside large metal rubbish bins along the airport road, which remained blocked by large mounds of earth dumped by Hezbollah supporters on Wednesday when a general strike erupted into violence.

An airport official told AFP that all incoming and outgoing flights had been cancelled until at least 4:00 pm (1300 GMT), but it was unclear whether normal traffic would resume after that.

One flight to London did leave Beirut early on Thursday.

Meanwhile clashes erupted in Saadnayel, near the eastern town of Chtaura, as government backers and opposition supporters exchanged gunshots, a security official told AFP.

Three women were wounded, the official said.

He said that overnight government loyalists blocked the road from Chtaura to the Bekaa Valley, where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

Dozens of pro-government activists also blocked the main road in the Bekaa leading to the Syrian border with blazing tyres and other obstacles, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

He said the protesters overnight blocked the road just 50 metres (yards) from the Masnaa border crossing, forcing travellers to find alternate routes.

Blocking the Masnaa crossing appeared to be a response by government supporters to the shutdown of Beirut airport by the opposition.

The Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition has vowed to keep up the protests until the government cancels decisions taken earlier in the week.

On Tuesday the government said it was launching a probe into a private telephone network set up by Hezbollah, and accused the group of placing surveillance cameras around the airport to monitor the comings and goings of pro-government politicians.

The cabinet also reassigned the head of airport security over allegations that he was close to Hezbollah.

The clashes erupted on Wednesday during what was supposed to be a general strike called by the main labour union over price increases and wage demands.

But it quickly developed into a confrontation between supporters of the government and of the opposition.

The events marked a serious escalation in the showdown between the ruling bloc and the opposition, which have been locked in a power struggle for 16 months.

The crisis, the worst since the country's 15-year civil war ended in 1990, has left the country without a president since November, when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his mandate with no elected successor.