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Lebanon's force that can't be
ignored
By Breffni O'Rourke
PRAGUE - Omar Karami, Lebanon's pro-Syrian
prime minister, was reappointed Thursday after the
opposition forced him to quit 10 days ago. His
appeal for opposition parties to join a government
of national unity until elections in May was
immediately rejected.
The pro-Syrian
parliament members apparently were emboldened in
their choice by a massive protest in Beirut the
day before that showed loyalty to Syria,
countering weeks of anti-government and
anti-Syrian demonstrations.
Meanwhile,
about half of Syria's 15,000 troops in Lebanon
will move to the Bekaa Valley under a pullout plan
agreed by the two countries, Reuters news agency
reported Thursday, quoting Lebanese Defense
Minister Abdul Rahim Mrad. Mrad said the first
phase of the plan would be completed in about a
week's time. "Most of those withdrawing are going
to Syrian territory," he said.
The
pro-Syria protests were called by Hezbollah (Party
of God), which has been an implacable opponent of
Israel and the United States since it was created
in 1982.
Formed primarily to resist the
Israeli occupation of Lebanon, the Shi'ite-based
and Iranian-backed Hezbollah continues to seek the
destruction of Israel. It is also blamed for the
truck bombing that killed 241 US Marines at their
barracks in Beirut in 1983.
But over the
years, the party - which has both military and
political wings - has taken on a socio-political
role. That has ensured its solid popularity in
Lebanon's Shi'ite community, which makes up almost
40% of Lebanon's 3 million people.
Hezbollah is a major provider of social
services in Lebanon, operating schools, hospitals
and agricultural services. It has also become a
successful political movement. It currently has 13
seats in the Lebanese parliament and plans for
strong participation in May elections.
Regional analyst Turi Munthe of the
London-based Royal United Services Institute said
the rally on March 8 in Beirut shows the grip
Hezbollah has on Lebanon. "What this enormous
rally - enormous, much, much bigger than any of
the opposition rallies - has told the world is
that Lebanon is a far more fractured place than
everybody had hoped," he said.
The rally
came after similar - but much smaller - protests
were held by Lebanese opposition political
parties, who are calling for a Syrian withdrawal.
Syria has had a strong military and intelligence
presence in Lebanon for the last 30 years. Demands
that its troops leave have multiplied since last
month's assassination of former prime minister
Rafik Hariri - who opposed the Syrian presence.
The US views Hezbollah as a terrorist
organization and recently sought to have its
European allies adopt that same definition. But
France resisted the move, and a report from
Washington says the administration of President
George W Bush is redefining its own position.
Steven Weisman of The New York Times wrote
this week: "The United States has basically
accepted the French view, echoed by others in
Europe, that with Hezbollah emerging as such a
force in a very fractured Lebanon, it is dangerous
to antagonize it right now, and wiser to encourage
the party to run candidates in Lebanese
elections."
Weisman quotes a French
official as saying this could be the turning point
at which Hezbollah sheds its terrorist origins and
concentrates solely on politics.
Analyst
Turi Munthe also says the West must let Lebanon
come to grips with its own problems. "It is going
to have to let Lebanon work out what to do with
this organization [Hezbollah], which the West, the
United States, doesn't really like, but which is
probably the biggest, as well as the most
well-organized, political party in Lebanon."
Munthe suggests that Hezbollah is now
capable of claiming high parliamentary positions,
such as speaker of the house, a post which until
recently was held by Nabih Berri, the head of the
secular Shi'ite movement Amal.
He believes
such a move would mark a maturing of the
situation. Hezbollah could integrate into
Lebanon's political life and develop a stake in
the system. "Most people with a knowledge of the
region think that is a good thing," Munthe said.
"It helps unify Lebanon. It helps pull all the
different active political partners to the same
table. And what it will do is help unify the state
by pulling in powerful organizations and making
them sit down at a parliamentary table. So this
has to be a good thing. But it's going to take a
lot of time, and it's going to take a lot of
negotiation."
As long as the US continues
to regard Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,
however, it will be difficult for the party to
enter the political mainstream.
But
Reinoud Leenders, an analyst in Beirut with the
International Crisis Group, suggests Washington
could compromise, even on this point, for the sake
of consolidating democracy in Lebanon. "For
example, it would be helpful if the United States
administration could make - perhaps behind the
scenes, maybe not in public - could give
assurances that it will not go after Hezbollah on
the basis of the allegations it has against
Hezbollah for its terror activities in the 1980s,"
Leenders said.
On the other side, Leenders
said Hezbollah itself is not ready for
normalization, in that all its activities are
still placed within the context of its resistance
to Israel.
Copyright (c) 2005, RFE/RL
Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW,
Washington DC 20036 |
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