International

Hezbollah takes west Beirut

Hezbollah and its allies have taken control of west Beirut and shut down pro-government media in fighting that has left at least 11 Lebanese dead.

The Lebanese army, not wishing to take sides, chose not to get involved.

Opposition gunmen of the Syrian Socialist National Party set ablaze a building housing studios of [governing coalition leader Saad] Hariri’s TV station.

You may remember those outright fascists from one of the posts in davem’s Syrian Journal last year.

AFP reports:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — whose country is Iran’s closest regional ally — said the unrest was a purely “internal affair” but called for dialogue.

And I’m sure he’d say exactly the same if his allies in Hezbollah had got their asses kicked.

Is it safe to say that Saturday’s “Free Palestine” demonstration in London will feature lots more glorification from the “We Are All Hezbollah” crowd?

Update: Two blogs by people on the ground in Beirut: here and here.