Beirut 'Neighborhood Watch' Echoes Troubled Past

BEIRUT - In the darkness of Beirut's unlit streets, men wielding batons and torches are taking security into their own hands in an initiative they hope will keep neighborhoods safe but critics see as a worrying echo of Lebanon's troubled past.

The neighborhood watch, launched earlier this month in some of Beirut's most salubrious streets, is the latest symptom of the crisis that has afflicted Lebanon since its ec