Hezbollah anti-US, anti-Israel protest in Beirut

Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters marched in a Beirut southern suburb on Sunday night, chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and vowing loyalty to the group's leader. The protest came hours after Lebanon's foreign minister summoned the US ambassador to Beirut over comments she made recently in which she criticised Hezbollah.

The meeting between Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti and US ambassador Dorothy Shea is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Local media said the minister would tell the ambassador that according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, an ambassador has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of another country and should not incite the Lebanese people against one another.

On Saturday, a Lebanese judge banned local and foreign media outlets in the country from interviewing the US ambassador for a year, saying that her criticism of Hezbollah was seditious and a threat to social peace.

The judge's ruling came a day after Shea told Saudi-owned TV station Al-Hadath that Washington had "great concerns" over Hezbollah's role in the government.

Hezbollah is backed by Iran, and is regarded as the strongest political and military force in Lebanon.

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