Lebanon's opposition say they have called off the nationwide general strike that paralysed much of the country yesterday, saying it had delivered a warning to the government but warned of further protests if their demands are not met.
At least three people were killed and dozens injured as the two camps battled each other around street barricades with stone-throwing and in some cases gunfire. Black smoke poured into the sky over Beirut from burning roadblocks.
The fighting quickly took on a dangerous sectarian tone in a country whose divided communities fought a bloody 1975-1990 civil war. Gunmen from neighboring districts in the northern city of Tripoli - one largely Sunni Muslim, the other largely Alawites, a Shia Muslim offshoot - fought each other, causing two of the fatalities.
The day gave a frightening glimpse of how quickly the confrontation between Saniora's government and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies could spiral out of control, enflame tensions among Sunnis, Shias and Christians and throw Lebanon into deeper turmoil.
Opposition supporters began withdrawing from their street blockades, leaving behind burning tires, concrete blocks and debris. At one abandoned roadblock in the north of Beirut, a fire engine extinguished the burning tires.
Suleiman Franjieh, a Christian opposition leader, told Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV the next steps "will be nothing compared to what we saw today" if the government does not respond to the opposition's demands.
The Hezbollah-led opposition is growing increasingly frustrated after two months of sit-in protests outside Saniora's offices in downtown Beirut failed to force him to step down or form a new government giving the opposition more power.
Saniora vowed not to give in, saying in a televised address: "We will stand together against intimidation and to confront sedition."
But he repeated his willingness to discuss a political solution to the impasse and called for a special session of Parliament.
AP