It took Lebanon’s Hizbollah group just a few hours on Friday to seize control of Muslim west Beirut and bring the country’s western-backed government to its knees.

Timeline

Feb 2005 Popular ‘Cedar revolution’ follows assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri. Syrian complicity suspected

April 2005 Syrian troops end 29-year presence in Lebanon

July 2006 War between Israel and Hizbollah sparked by the capture of two Israeli soldiers

Dec 2006 Power struggle deepens between Hizbollah and pro-west government after Hizbollah and Shia opposition party Amal ministers resign

Nov 2007 Lebanon is left without a president after Emile Lahoud steps down and the divided parliament repeatedly fails to agree on a successor

May 2008 Hizbollah seizes control of several Beirut neighbourhoods and shuts down a pro-government newspaper and television station. Sunni leader Saeed Hariri calls on Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to end the ‘siege’ of Beirut

Amid scenes reminiscent of the 1975-90 civil war, the country’s most heavily armed and disciplined force deployed its gunmen around al-Mustaqbal newspaper – owned by Saad Hariri, the leading Sunni in the pro-western governing coalition – at about 7am, setting the fourth floor of the building ablaze.