BEIRUT, July 19 (AFP) - One person was killed in clashes in Lebanon between supporters of former Christian warlord Samir Geagea and local youths from a Shiite neighbourhood south of Beirut, press reports said Tuesday.

Fighting flared between Shiites and Christians who had set off fireworks on Monday to celebrate parliament's decision to grant amnesty to Geagea, who has been serving a life sentence in an isolated prison cell since 1994.

The fighting occured along the Sidon old road seperating the Ain Al Remaneh and Shiah ditricts.

Gunshots were heard as the two rival groups became locked in fistfights, and one youth, Bilal Seifeddine (1973), was killed while another 16 wounded, the An-Nahar newspaper said.

The As-Safir newspaper said the young Shiites were members of the Amal movement, whose leader Nabih Berri is parliament speaker, adding that the army arrested several armed people involved in the clashes.

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