Bush effigy erected at Fatima Gate

By Mohammed Zaatari
Daily Star staff

SOUTH LEBANON, Dec. 3 (Daily Star)--Hizbullah erected a comical 4-meter high effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush outside the Fatima Gate at the southern border. Residents and travelers along the Kfar Kila road were surprised to see the large cut-out Friday, constructed by Hizbullah's information office in the south to depict Bush manipulating the United Nations.

The 4-meter high and 1.5-meter wide Bush wears a blue suit with an American flag tie, with a missile in one pocket bearing the phrase "danger of death" and a fountain pen in the other emblazoned with the Star of David.

The effigy stands next to another depicting the UN headquarters in New York. Above the building, Bush is seen firing a missile representing Security Resolution 1559 toward Lebanon.

1559 demands the disarmament of Hizbullah and Palestinians in Lebanon.

The party's information office said the project required 24 meters of wood and took five of its members 16 hours to make.

The office's director, Mohammed Jaafar, said the effigy is meant to reflect the "prevailing critical phase" in Lebanon caused by such international resolutions as 1559.

The effigy was erected in a spot frequently visited by Lebanese and foreigners touring the area to see the Fatima Gate and the Israeli border.

The latest volley in the ongoing row between Hizbullah and the Bush administration comes one week after clashes between the resistance and Israeli forces in the Shebaa Farms and Ghajar border village.

Internal Security Forces personnel visited the area to monitor the scene as truck drivers spat at and addressed insults to the wooden Bush.

#############################

Al-Masakin News Agency
Wire Service: http://al-masakin.blogspot.com/
Central Asian Weblog: http://al-masakincentralasia.blogspot.com/
Journalism Weblog: http://al-masakinjournalism.blogspot.com/
Poverty Weblog: http://al-masakinpoverty.blogspot.com/
Crime Beat: http://al-masakincrimebeat.blogspot.com/