BEIRUT, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah said a serious enquiry into the killing of seven Shi'ites last month was key to preserving Lebanon's army, widely seen as the guarantor of civil peace in the deeply divided country.

Three army officers and eight soldiers have been arrested over the Jan. 27 Beirut shooting, which began after the army moved to break up a protest against power cuts.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the powerful Hezbollah, said in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on Wednesday that the enquiry had so far yielded "excellent and satisfactory" results. It was not clear when the interview was conducted.

The killing heightened tensions in Lebanon, which is going through its worst political crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

Hezbollah, supported by Syria and Iran, has led an opposition alliance in a political campaign against a governing coalition backed by states including Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The army, led by General Michel Suleiman, has been seen as vital in preserving civil peace during nearly three years of political turbulence since the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

But Hezbollah has been critical of the army's handling of the protest.

"I told General Suleiman and I repeat ... that the way to preserve the institution of the army is a serious and definitive enquiry," Nasrallah said in an interview with Lebanese television station OTV. "This army has been able to protect the country and guard the country and prevent the country from civil war. What is the reason?" Nasrallah said.

"The reason is that, in the eyes of the entire Lebanese people, it is the army of the nation ... when this army begins to turn into a faction, when it turns into an enemy, this army begins to lose this status," Nasrallah said.

The division of Lebanon's army along sectarian lines in 1976 was a key moment in the country's descent into militia rule.

Suleiman has been agreed by both the opposition and the governing coalition as the candidate to fill the presidency, which has been vacant since November because of the political crisis.

But his election to the post has been held up by a dispute over the make-up of a new government. Analysts have said the Jan. 27 shootings could throw his candidacy into doubt.

Nasrallah was joined in the interview by Michel Aoun, a Christian leader who is part of the opposition alliance. (Reporting by Tom Perry and Laila Bassam; Editing by Stephen Weeks)

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