Headlines, Middle East & North Africa

CHALLENGES 2007-2008: Lebanon Confronts Its Seven Deadly Plagues

Mona Alami

BEIRUT, Dec 29 2007 (IPS) - This year, Lebanon has witnessed a series of unfortunate events. With demonstrations, street confrontations, rising religious tensions, assassinations, an internal war, economic recession and a looming political crisis that has resulted in a power vacuum at the head of state, Lebanon has faced its own seven deadly plagues.

Throughout 2007, massive protest movements have wreaked havoc on Lebanon&#39s already congested streets. The year started with demonstrations held in the Beirut central district seeking resignation of the government headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, a member of the majority coalition.

The Hizbullah-led opposition, with party chief Hassan Nasrallah at its head, continues to maintain that the government is illegitimate since its Shia ministers resigned over a year ago.

The crisis had been brewing for nearly three years, beginning with the killing of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, along with 22 people, in February 2005. Largely attributed to Syria, the assassination outraged the Lebanese people, who protested en masse Mar. 14 of that year, a demonstration that prompted the pullout of the Syrian army after 29 years of occupation, and started a major political movement.

The summer of the same year, the Mar. 14 movement won the first free election in decades, taking 67 of 128 seats in parliament. The newly established government quickly voted to form an international tribunal to try those found responsible for the Hariri killing. Shortly thereafter, Shia MPs resigned from the government over technicalities, and joined the opposition movement, which included the Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) headed by Michel Aoun, originally a member of the March 14 coalition.

"I believe that the vote for the establishment of the tribunal is one of the stellar political achievements of March 14," says Boutros Harb, independent MP and member of the majority March 14 coalition.

After the resignations, the opposition launched a series of protests aimed at toppling Siniora&#39s government. On Dec. 1, 2006, the opposition called a so- sit-in – still continuing – that took over the Beirut central district, with dilapidated tents clogging up the upmarket area. The demonstrations led to violence Jan. 23 and 25 this year, after the opposition set up road blocks that led to street confrontations, with rival groups attempting to reopen the roads.

Amid the chaos on Jan. 25, the international community met in Paris for the Paris III economic conference, which secured 7.6 billion dollar for Lebanon&#39s new economic action plan. "We witnessed an unprecedented support for Lebanon," says Harb. But although the opposition failed to topple the government, it still maintained its hold over Beirut&#39s city centre, paralysing the area&#39s businesses and forcing many to close down.

Simon Abi Ramia, member of the FPM, sees the demonstrations positively. "We successfully took to the street and contained any possible confrontation. I believe the sit-in prevented the government&#39s unilateral domination of power."

The government did not long enjoy its Paris success: on Feb. 13, a day before the second anniversary of Hariri&#39s assassination, two bombs exploded in Ain Alak, a Christian town north of Beirut. The bombs tore through two commuter buses carrying people on their way to work, killing three and wounding a dozen others.

The bombing failed to unite the Lebanese. When March came along, traditionally heralding the launch of the usual parliamentary sessions, Speaker of the House Nabih Berri – who also heads the Shia Amal party that is part of the opposition – refused to convene parliament, which remained shut down for three months.

In the midst of the political tension pitting the opposition against the majority, a bomb exploded May 20 in Ashrafieh, a predominantly Christian neighbourhood of Beirut, killing at least one person and wounding a dozen. The bomb was placed in the parking lot of the popular ABC shopping mall.

According to police information, both attacks at ABC and Ain Alak were likely carried out by the al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam militant group. The name of the terrorist movement would dominate newspaper headlines around the country a few months later.

On May 20, heavy fighting erupted in the northern city of Tripoli when Internal Security Forces (ISF) stormed a safe house belonging to Fatah al-Islam, members of which were suspected of robbing a bank owned by the Hariri family. In retaliation, Fatah al-Islam militants launched attacks on army patrols and slaughtered soldiers while they slept at the outposts surrounding the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp. This was the beginning of a war that lasted more than three months, and led to the death of hundreds of Fatah al-Islam fighters and 168 Lebanese soldiers.

While violence continued north of Lebanon, Beirut was rocked Jun. 13 by a powerful car bomb that killed anti-Syrian and majority MP Walid Eido along with nine other people.

Less than three months later, on Sep. 19, another car bomb shook the densely populated Christian Sin al-Fil neighbourhood, killing anti-Syrian and majority MP Antoine Ghanem and seven others. The attack came only a few days before parliament was due to elect a new president.

"The Mar. 14 coalition remained cohesive in spite of the bombings targeting its members," says Harb, who goes on to describe the many obstacles faced by the majority. "We share a unified approach to a democratic Lebanon, away from a renewed Syrian tutelage. However, our realisations have been stained by the opposition – loyal to the Damascus regime – stalling measures."

The country continued to face one crisis after the other. As the election of a Christian Maronite president loomed over Lebanon, the parliamentary majority and the opposition were unable to agree on a candidate, propelling the nation to confront a dangerous political vacuum.

The deadlock resulted from Lebanon&#39s political system, which is built on a balanced division of powers between Muslims and Christians within the cabinet and parliament, whereby the president is a Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni and the speaker of parliament a Shia.

Further adding to the mix of discord surrounding the presidency was the FPM&#39s Aoun, a staunch opposition ally, who considers the country&#39s top political seat his inalienable right, given his proclaimed status as head of the largest Christian party.

To satisfy the opposition&#39s Amal and Hizbullah groups, both of which have close ties to Damascus, the majority suggested the candidacy of General Michel Suleiman, the Lebanese army commander-in-chief who is widely respected for his objective management of the political crisis and the Nahr al-Bared war. However, the constitution states that a civil servant must be retired from his or her post for at least two years before assuming presidency. An amendment to this stipulation has been rejected by the opposition on the grounds that there is no political consensus.

According to Abi Ramia, the battle waged today is one for building a consensual democracy that is governed by all representative blocks and communities. "The understanding signed between Hizbullah and the FPM is the first building block to such a system, which could eventually lead to a more general comprehensive agreement among the different Lebanese factions. The government has been maintained at the cost of increasing tensions between communities, and each community needs to be reassured," he says.

As the divide grew further, a remote-controlled car bomb ripped through Beirut&#39s Baabda suburb, killing General Francois el-Hajj, army commander in charge of the Nahr el-Bared operations – and his bodyguard.

The assassination of el-Hajj seemed yet another blow to a country in tatters. The confrontation seems to have sprawled into political, security and institutional dimensions, spreading a clear message that the army, Lebanon&#39s last viable institution, is now a target.

"There is a definite a plan to destroy Lebanon and facilitate the implantation of Palestinian refugees," says Harb. Pity a nation, long torn by civil war, that has not yet learned from its mistakes.