One month after legislative elections which gave anti-Syrian groups a majority in parliament, Lebanon was still scrambling Monday to form a new government in the face of mounting tensions with Damascus. European foreign ministers gathered in Brussels were due to meet UN Lebanese envoy Terje Roed-Larsen to discuss the impasse, a diplomatic source in Beirut said. The situation at the Lebanese-Syrian border where hundreds of trucks have been held up for days, the government crisis and the disarmament of Shiite movement Hizbollah's armed wing were due to be discussed at the meeting. Damascus blames the border delays on a tightening up of security measures, while many Lebanese see a malevolent Syrian hand in the hold-ups and in the brief detention of nine Lebanese fishermen caught in Syrian territorial waters. Even Lebanon's new minders, Washington and Paris, have voiced concern over the failure to form a government after the four-stage election that wrapped up in June, the first held without a Syrian presence in the country. Arab League Secretary general Amr Musa, on a visit to Damascus on Sunday, called for "political entente" between the countries. "The departure of Syrian forces from Lebanon does not signal the end of Syrian-Lebanese relations. A political entente is necessary between the two countries which must take into account the importance of the common interests that tie them," Musa said.
But the lack of a government has so far rendered impossible a resumption of dialogue between Beirut and Damascus to sort out the problems that have emerged since the last Syrian troops left in April. Many Lebanese believe that Syria is still smarting from the forced departure of its forces after a near 30-year stay in the face of international political and Lebanese popular pressure. "Syria has decided to no longer accord the facilities enjoyed by Lebanon in the past," the Lebanese daily As-Safir quoted a senior Syrian source as saying Monday. "What's happening isn't going to improve Syria's image in Lebanon."
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt told journalists that "there is no reason for the Lebanese people to pay the price" for the situation on Lebanon's land and sea frontiers with Syria. "What we're seeing is a Syrian blockade, which is against the principles that should guide our relations following the departure of Syrian troops," added MP Elias Atallah, leader of the Democratic Left movement.