Hezbollah and pro-Lebanese government troops clash for fifth day in Lebanon

At least 53 people have been killed in clashes that have raged for over five days between Hezbollah and pro-Lebanese government factions across the country. The clashes started when Prime Minister Fouad Sinora last week tried to outlaw Hezbollah's secure telephone network and accused the group of setting up spy cameras at Beirut airport. At least 46 people have been killed and 128 wounded in four days of fighting which spread on Saturday night to the port of Tripoli, where supporters of the Sunni parliamentary leader, Saad Hariri, burned opposition offices, triggering running gun battles with Sunni Islamists allied to Hezbollah. As many as 7,000 residents fled the violence, which abated yesterday afternoon after a fragile ceasefire agreement and the deployment of the army, which throughout the conflict has remained neutral, ignoring government demands to force the gunmen from the streets.

Arab foreign ministers at an emergency session in Cairo yesterday appealed "for an immediate halt of bombings and shooting, and the withdrawal of gunmen". They condemned Hezbollah's use of weapons inside the country. The Cairo meeting was snubbed by the foreign minister of Syria, which is a strategic partner of Hezbollah but which saw its influence in Lebanon wane dramatically after its troops were forced to withdraw following the 2005 assassination of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri.

The latest events mark a significant achievement to Iranian and Syrian regional policies. "Hezbollah and Iran won the battle of Beirut," the pro-government Druze leader, Waleed Jumblatt told the Guardian in his besieged Beirut home. "The Iranians chose the moment America is weak in the Middle East. The balance of power has completely changed in Lebanon and now we wait to see what new rules Hezbollah, Syria and Iran will lay down."

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