Lebanon's media is regarded as the most vibrant in the Arab world but the country's myriad print and broadcast outlets are also vehemently partisan, requiring viewers in times of crisis to turn to several stations before forming a view of events.

So there was a certain grim logic to one of the first acts of the opposition Shia Hizbollah movement last week: as it stormed areas controlled by the pro-government forces, it moved against the television, radio and newspaper of the Future movement, the leading Sunni party in the governing coalition. They resumed operations yesterday after five days of silence.

For nearly two years the political showdown in Beirut between opposition and -government has played out on the television screens and newspaper pages. The media war has been fought most fiercely between Hizbollah's al-Manar and Future television, with each accusing the other of fanning the sectarian flames.

The well-honed propaganda skills of al-Manar, which won its reputation by tormenting Israel in the 1990s by showing films of Hizbollah attacks against Israeli troops occupying south Lebanon, have now been directed against what it alleges to be pro-government militias.

Future has been criticised for over-emphasising Hizbollah's threat to the Sunni community. By silencing Future media, owned by the powerful Hariri family, as its fighters seized control of the city the Shia militant group sought not only to humiliate the governing coalition but to prevent it from mobilising political and religious support. A day before Hizbollah's takeover of west Beirut, Future had broadcast a speech by the country's Sunni religious leader, warning Hizbollah against threatening the capital.

Many journalists who disagree with Future's political line have rallied round it, insisting freedom of expression must be preserved. Al-Manar - whose headquarters in Beirut were destroyed by Israel during the 2006 summer war - has been gloating over the crushing defeat suffered by its opponents and touting the start of a new "political era" in Lebanon.

Future News, the 24-hour news channel, resumed television broadcasts yesterday from alternative facilities in the Christian area of Beirut, saying its main location in the city's Hamra neighbourhood was still "not safe".

The silencing of Future media was the latest in a series of attacks on the pro-government media in Lebanon in recent years. A string of assassinations the government has blamed on Syria - the neighbouring power that was driven out of Lebanon in 2005 and is a main backer of the opposition - have targeted anti-Syrian journalists.

Future's closure was always likely to be short lived, said one political analyst. "The TV was not the objective. Closing it down was just part of the attempt to push the Hariri influence out of Beirut. Not that that can be done." Shortly after Future News resumed broadcasting, it aired a press conference with Saad Hariri, leader of the Future movement. Mr Hariri pointedly granted the first question to an al-Manar journalist "because we are not afraid of different voices", he said.