Analysts say Lebanon's crisis in perilous new phase

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Rima Abushakra

Agence France Presse

BEIRUT: "Everyone is running away," Beirut resident Imad said on Friday as Hizbullah gunmen roamed the streets of the Lebanese capital, in the grip of deadly gunbattles between feuding Sunni and Shiite factions. Opposition Shiite militants have seized control of swathes of west Beirut, including Sunni strongholds and pro-government media outlets, on the third day of fighting that threatens to plunge Lebanon into a full-blown civil war.

"Last night was surreal and chaotic ... I am still in shock that this is happening in Beirut," said Rasha al-Jundi, 24, who lives in the usually bustling Hamra business district.

"The bangs were so loud. They shook the whole building ... You would hear the shooting of different kinds of weapons, hand guns, machine guns and rocket propelled grenades." 

Imad, a 35-year-old businessman who lives in the Ras An-Nabaa area of predominantly Muslim west Beirut, said opposition militants had "fired at least 150 rockets. They sent us an army.

"One woman and her child were killed by a rocket as they were trying to escape. Between every three or four buildings you would see Hizbullah guards wearing yellow arm bands. They have taken over the whole area." 

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France advises nationals to 'limit their movements,' tens of emiratis leave country via syria
By Anthony Elghossain
Daily Star staff
Saturday, May 10, 2008

BEIRUT: The French Embassy in Lebanon on Friday declared that its government's Foreign Ministry had "not yet proposed" or seriously considered the evacuation of French citizens living in Lebanon. The embassy also warned French citizens to "limit their movements," adding that the government in France is "closely monitoring the situation in the country and is prepared to take any steps necessary to protect our [French] citizens."

On the other hand, the embassy of the United Arab Emirates announced that the evacuation of its citizens has been taking place to Syria by land, also saying that 35 citizens left Lebanon on Thursday.

The Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA), an Italian news agency, reported that the recently formed Berlusconi government in Rome is drawing up an evacuation plan for Italian nationals who want to flee fighting in Lebanon.

The new Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, was quoted by ANSA as saying that citizens seeking to leave Lebanon "can do so ... they will have a national [air] bridge at their disposal."

The United States also issued a warning to its citizens residing in Lebanon, advising them "to limit their [movements] in Lebanon to essential trips only, and to take reasonable security precautions."

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom joined in advising its citizens "against all travel" to Lebanon. A statement issued by the Foreign Office urged Britons living in Lebanon to "exercise particular vigilance at this time and wherever possible avoid areas where there has been fighting in recent days."

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Friday, May 9, 2008 : Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said on Friday the current problem in Lebanon is not sectarian but rather political, warning Christian and Muslim religious figures against "falling into the trap of sectarian speeches that instigate strife."

In his weekly Friday sermon delivered from the Imamayn Hassanayn Mosque in Haret Hreik, Fadlallah urged Lebanese officials to manage internal dialogue in a way that preserves the country's balance, future and power and to protect civil peace, the national Islamic unity and resistance.

"We could have done without this difficult situation which was triggered by improvised governmental decisions that do not respond to the simplest bases of internal consensus and sectarian balance," Fadlallah said.

The Cabinet on Monday decided to remove the Beirut airport's security chief, General Wafiq Shoucair, from his post and counter Hizbullah's private phone network.

"For many, such kinds of decisions imply further security disclosure which benefits the enemy to settle its account with the resistance," Fadlallah said.

"The resistance issue cannot be dealt with the way internal complications are handled. It should constitute a national concern that needs internal dialogue aiming at developing a defense strategy that protects Lebanon and its people against any attacks."

Lashing out at the US administration, Fadlallah said the international community, led by the US, was working on declaring war against the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the vice president of the Higher Shiite Council, Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, called on what he described as the "illegitimate" government to take back its decisions "immediately," urging politicians to hold dialogue sessions in Parliament.

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Friday, May 9, 2008 : Militants allied with the opposition on Friday forced the shutdown of all media operations belonging to the family of majority leader and billionaire tycoon Saad Hariri. The closure - which came as opposition fighters routed Sunni loyalists of the government - concerned one satellite news channel, two regular television stations, a newspaper and a radio station.

The media empire which was launched by Hariri's father, Rafik Hariri, the billionaire former prime minister who was assassinated  in February 2005 in a massive Beirut seafront car bombing. The slain former Prime Minister rose from humble beginnings to command an empire that included flagship construction company Saudi-Oger, real estate developer Solidere, banks and other companies - turning everything he touched into gold.

His business activities and his rise as an influential Middle  East political leader often won the elder Hariri comparisons with  Italy's billionaire politician Silvio Berslusconi who also sits atop a huge business and media empire.

Future Television was launched in February 1993 at the height of Lebanon's post-war reconstruction frenzy, when Hariri was also busy in multi-billion-dollar ventures to rebuild Beirut's war-devastated city center.

The guns of the 1975-1990 Civil War had gone silent only three years earlier and the new high-tech television offered a wide scope of family programmes, variety shows as well as news.

In 1994 Future Television launched a trial satellite broadcasting - Future International - that also proved very popular with Arab audiences.

In less than a year, Future International grew to become one of  the leading Arab satellite stations gathering the highest audience  ratings in the Gulf, Egypt and the Levant," according to Future  Television Web site.

"Like Future Television, Future International is a family TV that promotes Lebanon as a place for reconstruction, civilization, prosperity, coexistence, fun and good times."   

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By Hussein Abdallah
Daily Star staff
Saturday, May 10, 2008

March 14 Forces decry 'armed and bloody coup'

BEIRUT: Lebanon's governing coalition, the March 14 Forces, accused Hizbullah of staging a military coup against the state and said that Hizbullah's arms have become illegitimate after they were used against their fellow Lebanese citizens. "Hizbullah's claim that its arms were only targeted at Israel have proved false and invalid in the past two days, which witnessed the uses of such arms against the Lebanese people," the statement said.

Lebanese Forces boss Samir Geagea, reading the March 14 Forces statement after a meeting at his residence in Maarab, rejected Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's claim that the group's weapons were used against other Lebanese in a bid to protect Hizbullah's possession of arms.

In a news conference on Thursday, Nasrallah said that Hizbullah were ready to use their arms against other Lebanese, if the desired goal was to defend the resistance.

The March 14 statement compared "Hizbullah's occupation" of Beirut to the Israeli occupation of Beirut after the invasion of 1982.

"Beirut did not fall to Israel in the past and will not fall to Hizbullah today," the statement said.

Geagea also said that the Hizbullah "coup" was aimed at putting Syria back in control and increasing Iranian influence. "The armed and bloody coup which is being implemented aims to return Syria to Lebanon and extend Iran's reach to the Mediterranean."

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By Rami G. Khouri
Daily Star staff
Saturday, May 10, 2008

As often happens in this strange world, it was my water turtle Jerry who brought home to me the tough choices we make in times of war. This happened on Friday morning, when bullets and rocket-propelled grenades were exploding all around our apartment near the Hamra area of western Beirut, during the latest episode in Lebanon's long-running civil strife and political showdown.

We went to bed Thursday night amid repeated rounds of automatic rifle and handgun fire, punctuated by the occasional roar of a loud explosion that was probably a rocket-propelled grenade. The fighting stopped around 1:00 a.m., soon after a serendipitous spring rainstorm engulfed Beirut.

The fighting resumed in the early morning. One of our balcony windowpanes shattered just after we woke up at 7:30 a.m., pierced by a bullet or a ricocheting stone. A few minutes later, as we prepared coffee in the kitchen that we thought was shielded from the shooting in the streets below, a bullet hit the balcony above us. Shattered stones fell past our balcony to the street below. We ducked and quickly got out of the kitchen, but with our coffee in hand.

Jerry the turtle was in his water tank on the balcony, and had not been fed since the previous night. We knew we had to feed him soon, but wondered whether it was safe to go on the balcony, from where the gunmen along the large street junction 25 meters away and four stories below could clearly see us. The trouble was, we had no idea who was fighting whom, or whether any actual battles were taking place. Some neighbors thought that heavily armed fighters were simply asserting their presence and control of the neighborhood.

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