Hezbollah's takeover of Beirut lasted only two days but it could take years to repair the damage the show of force has done to relations between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims in the capital. "Things will never be the same again," said Ahmed, describing how gunmen held a rifle to his brother's head during the takeover by Hezbollah and Amal -- Shi'ite factions whose fighters swept through the capital on Thursday and Friday.Their main targets were offices of the Future group -- the political faction of governing coalition leader Saad al-Hariri, who draws most of his support from the Sunni community.
Ahmed, a Sunni, had been visiting a friend when gunmen stormed the building and destroyed his car, parked below. His brother had been at home when the gunmen threatened him. "I've never supported any politician. I always cursed them all," said Ahmed, who lives in one of many Beirut districts where residents fear that years of Sunni-Shi'ite coexistence has been undermined.
Some of the gunmen were from the same area, he said, showing pictures he had taken on a mobile phone of his car, its windows smashed, and other vandalised vehicles. Like other Lebanese interviewed since the violence began, he did not want to be identified for fear the gunmen might return. Acts of revenge were a certainty. "Not by me, but I know a lot of guys who will seek revenge," he said, describing how the gunmen had shouted sectarian abuse during their attack.
The prospect of Sunni-Shi'ite strife was one reason Hezbollah had been hesitant to turn its powerful arsenal against Lebanese political foes who it has accused of conspiring with the United States and Israel.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed group, has accused the U.S.-backed governing coalition of presenting the power struggle in Lebanon in sectarian terms to rally support among Sunnis at home and in the Arab world.
Nasrallah, a cleric, stated confidently that such a conflict would not happen in a speech that appeared to be the signal for fighters to take control of the mainly Muslim western half of Beirut. "There will not be sectarian Sunni-Shi'ite strife in Lebanon," he said.
Hezbollah leads an opposition coalition that includes Christians, Druze and Sunni figures who have sought to defend the group from attacks by clerics who support Hariri, including the state mufti. "The Sunni Muslims are fed up with the violations," Sheikh Mohammad Rachid Kabbani said, accusing Hezbollah of trying to dominate Lebanon and "abducting" Beirut.