Violence flares in Beirut

A woman cleans the bullet-shattered windshield of her car after clashes between Shiite gunmen and government supporters in her neighborhood of Beirut. At least 10 people were killed in the fighting, Lebanese security officials reported.  (Bela Szandelszky / Associated Press)

A Hezbollah militiaman blocks a road on the Beirut seafront. Lebanon’s U.S.-funded security forces offered little resistance as Hezbollah swept through West Beirut and routed a pro-government Sunni militia.  (Joseph Barrak /AFP/Getty Images)

Shiite gunmen detain Sunni government supporters after storming their building in a neighborhood of Beirut overrun by Hezbollah.  (Bela Szandelszky / Associated Press)

A Shiite gunman, right, takes a coffee break on a Beirut street. Hezbollah forces skirted Christian neighborhoods and focused their offensive on Sunni and mixed Sunni-Shiite districts of the capital.  (Ramzi Haidar /AFP/Getty Images)

A Sunni supporter of parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri burns tires to block the highway linking Beirut with coastal village of Jiyeh, Lebanon, on Thursday. Shiite supporters of Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Sunnis backing Lebanon’s U.S.-allied government clashed for a second day Thursday as sectarian confrontations in Beirut spilled over to other parts of the country.  (Mohammed Zaatari / Associated Press)

Shiite opposition gunmen take up a position behind a wall during clashes with pro-government supporters in a street in Beirut, where today deadly gunbattles erupted, killing at least three people, after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah charged that a Lebanese government crackdown on his group was tantamount to a “declaration of war,” raising fears of a full-blown sectarian conflict.  (AFP/Getty Images)

A Shiite opposition gunman fires a rocket propelled grenade Thursday on a street in Beirut during clashes with pro-government supporters.  (AFP/Getty Images)

Lebanese soldiers close a Beirut road Thursday with their armored vehicles. Shiite supporters of Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Sunnis backing Lebanon’s U.S.-allied government clashed for a second day as sectarian confrontations in Beirut spilled over to other parts of the country.  (Ahmad Omar / Associated Press)

Foreign passengers walk toward Rafiq Hariri International Airport, Beirut’s only international airport, which was forced to close. The portrait at right shows missing Shiite Imam Mussa Sadr.  (Anwar Amro AFP/Getty Images)

A young anti-government demonstrator has his face wrapped in a cloth during protests in Beirut. Tires burn in the background. Supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah-led opposition blocked streets in central Beirut and roads to the international airport as part of a strike that has turned into a showdown between militant Shiites and supporters of Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.  (Wael Hamzeh / EPA)

A protester adds to the piles of burning tires blocking streets in Beirut, where labor unions were calling for action against inflation and high living costs.  (Wael Hamzeh / EPA)

An armed supporter of the Shiite Amal movement walks past smoldering cars in Beirut during a general strike that turned into a confrontation between rival political factions.  (Ramzi Haidar AFP/Getty Images)

Supporters of the opposition-aligned Amal movement fire their weapons into the air during unrest in Beirut.  (AFP/Getty Images)

Armed supporters of the Shiite Amal movement move through the crowds in Beirut , where main streets were blocked by protesters.  (Ramzi Haidar AFP/Getty Images)

Lebanese soldiers take up a position as they try to keep rival political factions separated on the streets of Beirut.  (Joseph Barrak AFP/Getty Images)