Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group took control of the Muslim half of Beirut on Friday in what the U.S.-backed governing coalition described as "an armed and bloody coup". The United States accused Syria of "fanning the flames" and said "we're seeing now some evidence of those groups that are linked to Syria that are in Lebanon right now..," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
At least 15 people have been killed and 34 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government gunmen and fighters loyal to Hezbollah, a Shiite political movement which has a powerful guerrilla army and is an ally of Syria. The fighting, the worst internal strife since the 1975-90 civil war, began this week after the government decided to dismantle Hezbollah's military communications network. The group said the government had declared war.
Army personnel take over pro-govt positions in the southern city of SaidaIn scenes reminiscent of the darkest days of the civil war, young men with assault rifles roamed the streets amid smashed cars and smoldering buildings. Fighting died down as outgunned government supporters handed over their weapons and offices to the army, which has tried to remain neutral during 17 months of political conflict between the Hezbollah-led opposition and the government. The anti-Syria governing coalition condemned the "armed and bloody coup", saying it was aimed at increasing Iran's influence and restoring that of Syria, forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in 2005.
Beirut will remain shut
A senior opposition source said that Hezbollah and its allies would maintain the road blocks, including barricades on routes to the airport, until a full resolution of the crisis. "All issues are linked.
Beirut will remain shut until there is a political solution," the source said.
The political crisis has paralyzed the country and left it without a president since November 2007.
An airport official said all flights had been cancelled on Friday with the main road from Beirut barricaded by Hezbollah fighters. "As soon as they open the road, the flights will resume."An influential pro-government leader called for dialogue. Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Druze minority, said Hezbollah "regardless of its military strength, cannot annul the other". "Dialogue alone brings results. Running away from dialogue is not useful," he told the pro-government LBC television.
Killed trying to escape
The dead included a woman and her 30-year-old son killed while trying to flee Ras al-Nabae -- a mixed Sunni-Shiite Beirut district and scene of some of the heaviest clashes. "They were trying to flee to the mountains.
Instead ... they reached the hospital, dead," said a relative, who declined to give her name because of security fears. "It was terrifying during the night. We couldn't even move about in the house," said another woman, a Ras al-Nabae resident who fled the area at first light with her children. "We spent the night in the corridor." Witnesses recounted the chaos and fear that reigned in Beirut overnight as people rushed to stores that remained open to stock up, while others were trapped in their homes."It was a hellish night.
The armed militants were everywhere shooting all over the place," said west Beirut resident Rima.
"Occupier of Beirut"
Opposition gunmen guard pro-govt detainees in west BeirutHezbollah had steadily seized the offices of pro-government factions, including the Future group of Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri, in the predominantly Muslim western half of the city.Backed by gunmen from the Shiite Amal group, Hezbollah handed over the offices to the army. Hariri supporters gave up their offices to the army elsewhere in the country. Hezbollah also moved into Hariri-owned media outlets, and Hariri's television and radio stations went off the air. Opposition gunmen of the Syrian Socialist National Party set ablaze a building housing studios of Hariri's TV station. "It certainly leaves the government weaker and the Future movement weaker," said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. But Hezbollah does not want to be seen as an "occupier of Beirut", he said, and handing control to the army appeared the most likely exit. The European Union, Germany and France urged a peaceful resolution. Syria said the issue was an internal Lebanese affair.
Normal life in Christian areas
A crowd of Lebanese citizens jostle at a bakery to buy bread in the southIn Beirut, most shops and businesses remained shuttered while tanks rolled through the streets and hundreds of riot police and troops patrolled the city but with orders not to intervene in the conflict.
Lebanon was largely cut off from the outside world, with the international airport and Beirut port shut and several key highways blockaded.
But hundreds of people were able to flood to border crossings with Syria to escape the violence and foreign governments began putting in place plans to pull out their nationals.Although west Beirut was virtually under siege, in the predominantly Christian eastern sector of the city, life was going on as usual, with shops and other businesses open.
Proxy war with Iran
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.
Israeli President Shimon Peres claimed the violence was fomented by archfoe Iran to further what he said was Tehran's goal to control all of the Middle East.
While Iran accused the United States and Israel of fueling the deadly fighting.
"Adventurous efforts and interventions by the United States and the Zionist regime are the main cause of the continuous chaotic situation in Lebanon," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.
The long-running political standoff, which first erupted in November 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit the cabinet, has left the country without a head of state since November, when Damascus protégé Emile Lahoud stepped down.
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