BEIRUT —

Hezbollah fighters, their guns blazing, seized control of west Beirut on Friday after three days of deadly street battles with pro-government foes pushed Lebanon dangerously close to all-out civil war.

The United States warned that the Shiite movement must be held accountable for the violence and said it was working with Lebanon’s neighbors and the U.N. Security Council on steps to do so.

Convoys of triumphant opposition gunmen firing into the air and flashing victory signs took to the streets after routing Sunni militants loyal to the Western-backed government of the divided nation.

As the fighting eased, the army and police moved across areas now in the hands of Iranian- and Syrian-backed opposition forces which have been locked in an 18-month power struggle with the ruling coalition.

But as foreigners scrambled to leave it was unclear what the immediate future would hold, amid fears the protracted political feud could plunge Lebanon back to the dark days of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Although the guns had largely fallen silent in the besieged capital, a security official said two opposition militants were killed in fighting south of Beirut.

A woman and her husband were also killed in the southern city of Sidon and another woman was killed in Bar Elias in the Bekaa Valley, taking the toll over three days of unrest to 16.

Both sides appeared unwilling to give any further ground on Friday, with Hezbollah insisting that the roadblocks that have paralyzed much of the nation would remain until the government meets its demands.

“We are not carrying out a coup—all of this is related to the government’s decisions,” an opposition official said. “We are offering partnership… and they want to monopolize power and limit our share.”

But Youth and Sports Minister Ahmed Fatfat ruled out any chance of the government going back on its decision to probe Hezbollah’s private communications network—the trigger for the latest unrest.

“It would be easier for the government to resign than to revoke its decision,” Fatfat said.

Shiite gunmen fought running battles with Sunni government loyalists, routing them from their strongholds and forcing the closure of media outlets run by the family of parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri.

Dozens of people were also wounded in the fighting which escalated on Thursday after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah called a government crackdown on his powerful militant group a declaration of war.

Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, hailed Friday’s events as a “victory for Lebanon.”

The unrest triggered urgent international appeals for calm, amid fears that any possible civil war could spread to the region.

Arab foreign ministers were set to meet on the crisis on Sunday amid regional Sunni Muslim fears about Shiite Iran’s influence in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s feud is widely seen as an extension of the confrontation pitting the United States and its Arab allies and Israel against Syria and Iran, which back Hezbollah—regarded as a terrorist group by the West.

The White House called the fighting proof of the danger Hezbollah poses to the region.

“Hezbollah’s relationship with Iran and Syria, as well as its history of international terrorism and provision of lethal support and training to Iraqi-based extremist groups, demonstrates the threat it poses to international peace and security,” White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

“The United States is consulting with other governments in the region and with the UN Security Council about measures that must be taken to hold those responsible for the violence in Beirut accountable,” he said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington would support Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora in the standoff.

“Seeking to protect their state within a state, Hezbollah has demonstrated its contempt for its fellow Lebanese,” she added.

In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also assured Siniora of the European Union’s “full support.”

Earlier Christian Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused Hezbollah of launching “an armed coup… that is counter to the constitution… and democratic principles.”

Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in Lebanon, was the only faction allowed to keep its weapons after the civil war to fight Israeli forces occupying the south.

In west Beirut, most shops and businesses remained shuttered while tanks rolled through the streets and riot police and troops patrolled but with orders not to intervene in the conflict.

In scenes reminiscent of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon was largely cut off from the outside world, with the airport and Beirut port shut and key highways blockaded.

Hundreds of people flooded border crossings with Syria to escape the violence and foreign governments began putting evacuation plans in place.

An airport official said all Friday’s flights were canceled as the main road from Beirut was barricaded by Hezbollah. “As soon as they open the road, the flights will resume.”

Lebanon’s long-running political standoff, which first erupted in November 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit Siniora’s cabinet, has left it without a president since November, when Damascus protege Emile Lahoud stepped down.

Israeli President Shimon Peres claimed the violence was fomented by arch-foe Iran to further what he said was Tehran’s goal to control all of the Middle East.

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria—Iran’s closest regional ally—said the unrest was a purely “internal affair” but called for dialogue.

AFP

9 Comments

• 

  adaydream at 10:16 AM JST - 10th May

  Go on and pick up arms and kick the crap out of each other. Don't ask for help.

• 

  nucular at 11:59 AM JST - 10th May

  Iran is seeing the tide turn against their proxies in Iraq so they strike in Lebanon.

  How can people be so blind to their endgame for the region?

• 

  thedeath at 12:30 PM JST - 10th May

  after all they are all came from the same peaceful religion call islam. let the peaceful people do their own peaceful talk.

• 

  nucular at 01:56 PM JST - 10th May

  Al Jazeera, other news agencies are reporting that Al Qaeda is getting involved -

  "Al-Qaeda 'declares war on Hezbollah' Fri, 09 May 2008 19:19:35

  "Al-Qaeda has reportedly called on its operatives to go to Lebanon and defend what it called the Sunni community of the country.

  "The report came while some Arab media outlets described the current clashes in Lebanon as a fight between Sunni and Shia communities. "

  http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=54916&sectionid=351020203

  What happens when the Sunni - Shia conflict rends Muslim communities beyond the Mid East?

• 

  smithinjapan at 03:11 PM JST - 10th May

  "The White House called the fighting proof of the danger Hezbollah poses to the region."

  Yeah, well, the Hez won the democratic election that the US so badly pushed for, so they ought to just keep their yaps shut. What's more, this is proof that American-like spying on your citizens private transmissions, etc., is not always taken in such a pacified manner.

  I hope things get worked out without any more violence and blood being shed.

• 

  nucular at 04:27 PM JST - 10th May

  smithinjapan : "Yeah, well, the Hez won the democratic election that the US so badly pushed for, so they ought to just keep their yaps shut."

  Looks like we another poster here battling with some serious fixations.

  Are you telling us it is only America that wants to see free elections for Lebanon?

  Are you claiming Europe approved of Syria's occupation of that tragic country?

  The United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada and Australia all officially list Hezbollah and its external "security arm" as a terrorist organization.

  "What's more, this is proof that American-like spying on your citizens private transmissions, etc., is not always taken in such a pacified manner."

  What a bizarre assertion.

  Any and all of the surveillance and spying in the region (which undoubtedly predates the US presence there) is "American-like"?

  Have you anything to substantiate this, or do enjoy mistaking what you pull out of your tinfoil hat for facts?

  The "etc." in your charge makes it look like even you don't believe what you write.

• 

  skipthesong at 06:15 PM JST - 10th May

  "The White House called the fighting proof of the danger Hezbollah poses to the region." Yeah but ""If they go from Shebaa, we won't stop fighting them. ... Our goal is to liberate the 1948 borders of Palestine, ... The Jews who survive this war of liberation can go back to Germany or wherever they came from. However, that the Jews who lived in Palestine before 1948 will be 'allowed to live as a minority and they will be cared for by the Muslim majority."

  So, are we to support this because they won an election in 2005?

• 

  SuperLib at 01:07 AM JST - 11th May

  Hezbollah is basically taking over Lebanon now. They'll probably leave the government in place but will create their own state within Lebanon. They've already taken over control of most of the organized media in Lebanon and should be able to continue their targeted assassinations against anyone who gets out of line, or at Syria or Iran's direction.

  After that, I'm guessing attacks on Israel will start again.

• 

  mosc1 at 05:40 PM JST - 12th May

  smithinjapan

  "Yeah, well, the Hez won the democratic election that the US so badly pushed for"

  They have 8 mandates in the Lebaneses government! Son your confusing Gaza with Lebanon! Ignorant people ass-u-me such huffy arrogance.

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