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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Editorial: Crisis in Lebanon |
| 2010-11-14 |
| [Arab News] The regional preoccupations of the US and UN are not confined to the peace processor, Afghanistan and Yemen. Leb is also included, "the most critical issue of international peace and security today," says United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society special envoy to the country Terje Rod-Larsen. Rod-Larsen was referring specifically to Hezbullies having drawn the battle lines, with Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah declaring his group would boycott the UN Special Tribunal for Leb investigating the 2005 liquidation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and warning his group would "cut the hand" of anyone who tries to arrest its members for the killing. It was an expected escalation in Hezbullies's campaign against the court in the run-up to its indictment of members of the group that could come any time in the next few months. The international reaction to Nasrallah was on expected lines. UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon dubbed Nasrallah's boycott call an obstruction of justice while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... warned Hezbullies against resorting to violence. The flurry of back and forths recalled the bad old days of polarization that followed the Hariri killing. There are widespread fears of sectarian strife should the group be implicated in the murder. Such a crisis could force Hezbullies and its allies to withdraw their ministers from the Cabinet, bringing it down. Fortunately, only a few isolated incidents have so far spilled onto the streets, and the rhetoric has not quite reached the poisonous level before the May 2008 Doha accord brokered the rift. But the country is nervously awaiting the indictment, with no clear sense of what will come next. Speculation is growing of a Hezbullies takeover, like that of 2008, in the event of an indictment fingering any of its members. After years of accusing Syria, Prime Minister Saad Hariri has repeated that he no longer blames Leb's neighbor for his father Rafik's liquidation. That leaves Hezbullies, and now all eyes in Leb are on Hariri and what he will do next. A Cabinet discussion last month on the indictment was delayed again, this time by Hariri extending one of his now famous trips abroad. The prime minister is coming under growing domestic criticism for being away more than he stays at home, though few would blame him for a lack of relish in confronting the choices he has to make. Hariri has long thrown his weight behind the tribunal; now he is being asked to reject it and risk ties with his allies, domestic and international. Hezbullies is asking Hariri to do the impossible. He cannot disavow an international investigation into his father's killers that he himself called for, that most of his community wants and with which his government has vowed to comply. For Hezbullies to demand that Hariri disown the STL is to demand that he and his bloc leave the government. Is there an exit? Having established the STL, the UN Security Council could in theory dissolve it. But given the importance the UN and Washington have always attached to the probe, few think that will happen. Even those who have no love for Hezbullies think it is the outside (especially the US) interest that complicates the matters. Some look to outside parties to broker a compromise. Still others hope a tribunal endlessly delayed means peace that much longer. But Hezbullies insistence on disavowal, boycotts and violence suggests that, without some sort of closure, Hariri's ghost will continue to haunt Leb. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Pre-Paleo militarization. Is there ANY country that hasn't been damaged by significant Paleo presence? Another reason why they're disliked among their neighbors |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-11-14 15:05 |
| #2 It used to be, 50-60 years or so ago. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-11-14 14:56 |
| #1 Lebanon the Jewel of the ME. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-11-14 04:09 |