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Add an EventHezbollah 'seizes west Beirut'
At least 11 people were killed as clashes intensify in Beirut [Reuters]
Hezbollah is reported to have taken control of large areas of the Lebanese capital from groups loyal to the government following gun battles.
"There are no clashes anymore because no one is standing in the way of the opposition forces," a Lebanese security official said on Friday.
The street battles, which erupted on Wednesday, have left at least 11 people dead and 20 others wounded.
Lebanese troops began taking up positions in some neighbourhoods in west Beirut abandoned by the pro-government groups.
The army has largely avoided getting involved in the street battles amid fears of being dragged into the conflict.
Michel Aoun, the Christian leader allied with the opposition, said that normality shall be regained on the streets.
He said: "The derailed carriage is now back on track. We hope from this point that things will fall back into the normal course [of events]."
Aoun also said that he sent a letter to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, and various member states of the UN Security Council, but "did not find a clear response to avert the crisis".
A rocket-propelled grenade earlier hit the fence of the heavily protected residence of Saad al-Hariri, the Sunni politician and leader of the governing coalition, in the suburb of Koreitem, a Muslim area of western Beirut on Friday.
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The fighting was triggered by the government's demand, made earlier this week, that the Shia militia group shut down its private communications network. Hizbullah described the demand as a "declaration of war".
Beirut's streets echoed to the sound of machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades as masked Hizbullah fighters clashed with supporters of the western-backed government, bringing fears of a new civil war.
Today, Hizbullah fighters moved on government media assets, forcing Future TV, the broadcaster of the Sunni politician Saad Hariri's Future Movement, off the air and burning the offices of the pro-government al-Mustaqbal newspaper.
Senior opposition politicians remained in their homes, guarded by police and the Lebanese army.
It was reported that a rocket had hit fencing surrounding Hariri's heavily-protected house.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/09/lebanon.syria1