BEIRUT (Reuters) - 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."
At least 18 people have been killed and 38 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government gunmen and fighters loyal to Hezbollah, a Shi'ite political movement which has a powerful guerrilla army and is an ally of Syria and Iran.
The violence was a dramatic escalation of 17 months of political deadlock between the Hezbollah-led opposition and the government which has paralyzed the country and left it without a president since November 2007.
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.
In 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 in the conflict.
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.
The White House restated its support for the government and urged Iran and Syria to end their support for Hezbollah, whose followers brought large parts of Beirut to a standstill this week with roadblocks.
"This support is a reflection of our unshakable commitment to the Lebanese people and their hope for democratic change," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
"We will stand by the Lebanese government and peaceful citizens of Lebanon through this crisis and provide the support they need to weather this storm."
A senior opposition source told Reuters that Hezbollah and its allies would maintain the roadblocks, 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.
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 IN ESCAPE BID
The dead included a woman and her 30-year-old son, killed while trying to flee Ras al-Nabae -- a mixed Sunni-Shi'ite 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."
Hezbollah 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 Shi'ite 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 while Iran blamed the United States and Israel for the violence.
Hezbollah was the only Lebanese faction allowed to keep its weapons after the civil war to fight Israeli forces occupying the south. Israel withdrew in 2000 and the fate of Hezbollah's weapons is at the heart of the political crisis.
(Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki and Laila Bassam; editing by Andrew Roche)
