Lebanon’s most popular party, the Hezbollah, took control of the Muslim half of Beirut on Friday, tightening its grip on the city in a major blow to the US-backed government.
Security sources said at least 11 people had been killed and 30 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government gunmen and fighters loyal to Hezbollah, Reuters said.
The fighting, the worst internal strife since the 1975-90 civil war, was triggered this week after the government took decisions targeting Hezbollah’s military communications network.
By mid-morning the fighting had died down and Hezbollah and allied fighters were in control as loyalists put down their weapons.
Top majority leaders Saad Hariri of the Sunnis and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt were besieged in their residences in western Beirut.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was holed up at his office along with several ministers in downtown Beirut, which is heavily protected by troops and police.

Smoke billows from burning tires as a Lebanese boy flashes the victory sign at a blocked road leading to Rafiq Hariri International Airport in Beirut.

The Hezbollah takeover was peaceful in some neighborhoods as the militants fanned out across the Muslim sector of the city.
Pro-Gov’t Media Shut Down
Hezbollah’s power was demonstrated dramatically Friday morning when it forced the TV station “Future TV“ affiliated to the party of Lebanon’s top Sunni lawmaker, Hariri, off the air. Gunmen also set the offices of the party’s newspaper, Al-Mustaqbal, on fire in the coastal neighborhood of Ramlet el-Bayda.
Hariri later went on television urging Hezbollah to pull its fighters back and “save Lebanon from hell.’’ He proposed a compromise that would involve the army, one of the sole national institutions respected by Lebanon’s long deadlocked factions.
But Hezbollah and its allies swiftly rejected the offer, AFP reported.
Also, supporters of the Hezbollah kept the road to the country’s only airport blocked, effectively closing the airport for a second straight day.

Foreign Mediation
Saudi Arabia led calls on Friday for an urgent meeting of Arab foreign ministers to try to end the crisis in Lebanon as scores of foreign nationals fled the fighting in Beirut.
“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports holding an urgent and extraordinary meeting of the Arab League ministerial council in Cairo to discuss the Lebanese crisis and its fallout,“ a foreign ministry official was quoted by the state SPA news agency as saying.
Saudi Arabia also reportedly called on Siniora government to step down to ease the tension.
Arab League Chief Amr Mussa cut short a trip to the United States and returned to Cairo to join efforts to try to resolve the conflict which an Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said could be held in two days. Egypt and Jordan voiced support for an Arab meeting.
The UN Security Council also urged on Thursday rival parties to stop the violence, immediately reopen all roads, and resolve the country’s problems through peaceful dialogue.

Declaration of War
Earlier on Thursday, Hezbollah’s leader warned any crackdown by the government would be tantamount to a “declaration of war“.
Seyyed Hassan Nasrollah’s comments were broadcast on television, as street clashes in Lebanon between government loyalists and opposition supporters entered a second day.
He said the crisis in Lebanon had “entered a new phase“. Nasrollah insisted that Hezbollah’s telephone network, was an “essential tool for managing combat“ and stressed its importance to Hezbollah in its role as a “resistance movement“.
“We don’t have the technologies that the Americans and Israelis have,“ he said, calling the government’s move “a declaration of war and the launching of war by the government ... for the benefit of America and Israel“.

Security forces inspect the site of an explosion inside a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz on April 12.

A blast in a mosque that killed 13 people in the southern city of Shiraz last month was a bombing and the suspects, who had links with the country’s western foes, have been arrested, the intelligence minister said on Thursday.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei also said, “Through the efforts of the law-enforcement forces...the main person involved in the Shiraz mosque explosion was arrested in one of the northern cities of the country,“ Alalam reported.
“The main agent, who was directly responsible for the bombing, was arrested during an attempt to leave the country. The person was armed when arrested,“ Ejei said.
The April 12 blast ripped through a packed mosque during an evening prayer sermon by a prominent local cleric.
After initial reports that the explosion, which also wounded more than 200, was the result of a bombing, officials had insisted that it was accidental.
An Interior Ministry body said the blast was set off by munitions on display in the mosque as part of an exhibition commemorating Iran’s 1980-88 war with Iraq.
Ejei said five other suspects had also been detained and that explosives and cyanide had been seized from them.
“This terrorist group had relations with Britain and the United States, and these countries have been notified about this matter by the Foreign Ministry,“ he said.
“But they did not take any measure to prevent (this group’s) terrorist actions and rather supported them.“
Noting that these people are all Iranians, Ejei said the group had planned to carry out similar operations in different places after the Shiraz bombing.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi on Thursday blamed the explosion on western-backed monarchists who oppose the Islamic Republic.
Pour-Mohammadi said the culprits had been identified and arrested “in another bombing attempt which was foiled“ in an unspecified Iranian province.
There have been deadly attacks in border provinces with significant ethnic minority populations in recent years, for which Iran has blamed US and British agents based in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan.
But the strike in Shiraz was the first in decades in Iran’s heartland.

Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Mehdi Khazaei, notified Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) representatives on Friday about the outlines of Iran’s package of proposals to resolve regional and international problems.
“As a powerful and influential country in the region and world, Iran has always been the source of stability, security and might at the regional level. In its package, Iran has outlined practical solutions in compliance with regional and international realities concerning political, security and economic domains as well as its peaceful nuclear program,“ he said.
The Iranian envoy noted that Iran is prepared to discuss the package with other influential countries as well, Fars News Agency reported.
Khazaei emphasized that more details of the package will be announced in the near future, urging the 118 NAM representatives to inform their countries about Iran’s stance and support implementation of the package.
Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the package of proposals focuses on issues in a way that would help improve international peace, security and stability, with respect to the rights of nations and their sovereignty.
On the nuclear issue, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany met in London last Friday and put forward a “reviewed and updated“ offer initially made to Iran in 2006, including economic, security and technological rewards.
No details of the so-called 5+1 one’s plans have yet been made public, although Russia has said that the proposals only ask Iran to suspend uranium enrichment during a period of talks.
Iran said on Monday it would not change its nuclear course despite an updated incentive offer by world powers to persuade Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
It, however, said nuclear incentives that violate the Iranian nation’s right in any form would not be considered by the Islamic Republic.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity, says enrichment is a national right enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to which Iran is a signatory.
“Regarding the incentives package...we believe the path adopted in the past should not be continued. They should act based on realities and international regulations. Talks should be held based on respect to nations’ rights,“ said Hosseini.

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad rejected Israel’s demand to cut ties with Tehran, calling Iran an old ally.