LEBANON'S western-backed government was reeling yesterday after the Shia movement Hizbullah and Amal Shia fighters seized control of western Beirut.
Security sources said at least 18 people had been killed and 38 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government forces and fighters loyal to Hizbullah, which has links with Iran and Syria, in the worst internal clashes since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990.
The city awoke to news that the pro-government Sunni militiamen had been vanquished by Hizbullah, and the headquarters of Saad al- Hariri's Future Movement, which is part of the ruling coalition, had been taken over. Hizbullah forces also closed down Mr Hariri's al- Mustaqbal newspaper and television station.
The leading Druze member of the Sunni-dominated government Walid Jumblatt and Mr Hariri were besieged in their homes yesterday, with prime minister Fouad al-Siniora and some of his ministers trapped in the Serail government building.
The governing coalition last night denounced what it called an "armed coup" and claimed it was aimed at bringing Syria back into the country and serving Iran's interests.
US state department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington was very troubled by Hizbullah's actions and reiterated "unswerving support" for Mr Siniora's government.
The political situation in Lebanon has been paralysed for months between the Hizbullah-led opposition, which demands more say in government, and the ruling Sunni-dominated coalition. It has paralysed the country and left it without a president. The current fighting erupted following a decision by the government to ban Hizbullah's private communications network, and to remove the airport security chief who had the Shia party's confidence, after Hizbullah surveillance cameras were found at Beirut airport.
Opposition sources said the roadblocks and seizure of the city would end only if Mr Siniora's government resigned, and rescinded the decisions to clamp down on the group.
With the army tacitly supporting the opposition, analysts say there is little the government can do. Army commander Michel Suleiman, whose forces have largely been seen as neutral during the political crisis, rejected government requests to impose a state of emergency.
"I think the government meeting is all a PR show," said security expert Timur Goksel. "It's not clear what pushed them to challenge Hizbullah now, or how they're now going to get themselves out of this."
Hizbullah expert Amal Saad-Ghorayeb said the movement was likely to call for early elections, and that perhaps its ally, Christian leader Michel Aoun, would fill the presidential seat that had remained empty for five months because of the power struggle. "There'll be a big package of demands now, there has been such a drastic change," she said. "Above all, they'll be insisting on guarantees that there'll be no more moves on the resistance, and for pro-resistance figures to be in top positions."
Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah accused the government of "a declaration of war on the resistance" on Thursday. He made clear the guerrilla group would fight, even at the risk of Sunni-Shia strife, to defend the weapons it was allowed to keep to fight Israeli occupation under the post-war Taif agreement.
Israel ended its occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000 and international pressure on the group to disarm has steadily grown. Determination to keep its weapons lies at the heart of Hizbullah's insistence over the past 18 months on a veto-wielding share of government power. - (additional reporting Guardian service)