A key Hezbollah ally has warned that an international indictment of members of the Islamic militant group in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri could lead to new civil strife in Lebanon.

Lebanon hung between fears of all-out war and hopes of political compromise as government supporters and opponents battled with rockets and machine guns in the mountains overlooking Beirut.

ANTI-SYRIAN rivals battled it out at the ballot boxes yesterday as voters crowded polling stations to vote in the most crucial round of Lebanon’s parliamentary elections.