Much of Beirut falls to Hezbollah

[Elano]

BEIRUT -- The Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah handily took over much of the Lebanese capital today in a dramatic escalation of the movement's months-long confrontation with the government and its supporters, security officials said.

Lebanon's security forces, which received more than $270 million in U.S. aid last year, mostly stood by as Hezbollah swept through West Beirut and pushed back fighters from a pro-government Sunni militia. The troops protected government buildings but avoided the clashes.

At least 10 people had been killed, according to Lebanese security officials.

The clashes followed days of intense fighting between Hezbollah and Sunni fighters loyal to the pro-government Future movement. The combat was sparked by a government decision Tuesday to outlaw Hezbollah's fiber-optic communications network and remove an ally as head of security at the country's sole international airport.

Sporadic gunfire continued this morning and early afternoon after an overnight thunderstorm subsided. But the heaviest fighting appeared to have ended after the Future movement was routed by Hezbollah and fighters of the allied Amal movement.

The Shiite fighters avoided Christian neighborhoods, which remained calm, focusing their offensive on Sunni and mixed Sunni-Shiite districts of the capital. The operation effectively neutered the growing militia of Sunni leader Saad Hariri's Future movement, which was viewed by security forces as well as Hezbollah as a potential threat to security.

Across West Beirut, streets were mostly devoid of civilians. Armed Shiite militiamen asked passersby for identification cards in what locals described as a harrowing reminder of the worst days of Lebanon's 1975 to 1990 civil war.

In Tariq Jdideh, a Sunni neighborhood of West Beirut, a small group of men in their 20s, one holding an assault rifle and wearing a ski mask, stood on a corner near a Future movement office."We don't have ammunition,"one said.

"My parents want me to go back," said another. "All these guys you see here are university students. We are not prepared for a war."

A man emerging from the office told everybody to go home. "I got orders for everybody to leave," he told the young men. "They will attack us. They will come and beat us. Let's all leave."

One man in the neighborhood, Tawfiq Saade, lamented the loss of his shop, which he said burned down in a rocket attack.

"They fire rocket-propelled grenades at us as if we were the enemy," the 60-year-old said. "What can we do? We won't leave our homes."

Hezbollah effectively shut down the Future movement's television station, frightening off employees and handing the empty offices over to the army. The station was closed down for security reasons, said Samir al-Ashi, a spokesman for the movement.

The country's national carrier, Middle East Airlines, has announced that it has suspended all incoming and outgoing flights until Saturday afternoon.


A Shiite gunman fires his AK-47 during a gunbattle in a Beirut neighborhood. The Shiite militia Hezbollah seized control of much of the Lebanese capital in clashes reminiscent of the country's 15-year civil war.

A Hezbollah militiaman blocks a road on the Beirut seafront. Lebanon's U.S.-funded security forces offered little resistance as Hezbollah swept through West Beirut and routed a pro-government Sunni militia.

A Shiite gunman, right, takes a coffee break on a Beirut street. Hezbollah forces skirted Christian neighborhoods and focused their offensive on Sunni and mixed Sunni-Shiite districts of the capital.

A Sunni supporter of parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri burns tires to block the highway linking Beirut with coastal village of Jiyeh, Lebanon, on Thursday. Shiite supporters of Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Sunnis backing Lebanon's U.S.-allied government clashed for a second day Thursday as sectarian confrontations in Beirut spilled over to other parts of the country.

Shiite opposition gunmen take up a position behind a wall during clashes with pro-government supporters in a street in Beirut, where today deadly gunbattles erupted, killing at least three people, after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah charged that a Lebanese government crackdown on his group was tantamount to a "declaration of war," raising fears of a full-blown sectarian conflict.

A Shiite opposition gunman fires a rocket propelled grenade Thursday on a street in Beirut during clashes with pro-government supporters.

Lebanese soldiers close a Beirut road Thursday with their armored vehicles. Shiite supporters of Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Sunnis backing Lebanon's U.S.-allied government clashed for a second day as sectarian confrontations in Beirut spilled over to other parts of the country.

Hezbollah supporters burn tires and barricade a main road leading to Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon. Hezbollah-led opposition supporters continued anti-government protests, blocking roads in the Lebanese capital and forcing the country's only international airport to close in a serious escalation of a long-running political crisis.

Foreign passengers walk toward Rafiq Hariri International Airport, Beirut's only international airport, which was forced to close. The portrait at right shows missing Shiite Imam Mussa Sadr.

During protests in Beirut, a masked protester leaps across a barricade of burning tires near government buildings.

An armed supporter of the Shiite Amal movement walks past smoldering cars in Beirut during a general strike that turned into a confrontation between rival political factions.

Supporters of the opposition-aligned Amal movement fire their weapons into the air during unrest in Beirut.

Armed supporters of the Shiite Amal movement move through the crowds in Beirut , where main streets were blocked by protesters.

Lebanese soldiers take up a position as they try to keep rival political factions separated on the streets of Beirut.