Hitchens, Down and Out in Beirut

I don't know if this is true or not, but it is reported here that:

"Christopher Hitchens is currently in Beirut sponsored by the same group that owns that crap NOW Lebanon. He got in a few nights ago and surprisingly went out drinking. On his way out of the bar he saw an SSNP poster and wrote on it "Fuck the SSNP". There just happened to be some SSNP thugs near by--most likely asking people for their ID, and most likely to no avail--and saw him write on the poster and kicked his ass. He is still walking with a limp.""

Additional confirmation...

"The assault on Christopher Hitchens' body continues - he's been waterboarded, body-waxed and suffered through countless hangovers.

In the latest incident, Hitchens sustained gashed knuckles and bruises in a vicious street brawl with shoe-shopping thugs during a Valentine's Day night out on the streets of Beirut.

Hitchens, the chain-smoking, hard-drinking, intellectually ambitious Vanity Fair columnist, was beat up during the altercation, according to several blogs."

The HuffingtonPost column quotes three other blogs (including the one above) that reference the altercation.