Civil War In Lebanon Tomorrow?

[Annie]

It's possible:

http://afr.com/articles/2005/02/28/1109546761662.html

Lebanon headed for showdown
Feb 28 11:24
AFP


Lebanon was headed for a showdown between the opposition and the security forces as thousands of demonstrators massed late today in Beirut in defiance of a ban on protests by the pro-Syrian government.

Shouting "Syria out" and waving the Lebanese flag, the protesters converged on the central Martyr's Square as hundreds of heavily armed troops aided by police deployed jeeps and trucks to the main crossroads leading to the square.

An opposition member of parliament told the demonstrators that three members of the pro-Syrian Lebanese government had resigned.

The energy minister, economy and commerce minister and the junior minister for administrative development had all quit, Nayla Moawwad told the crowd to loud applause. The claim could not be independently verified.

"We are going to hand out blankets, we are staying here," one of the demonstrators said over a megaphone, just hours before the ban was to kick in at 5am (1400 AEDT).

More than 5000 protesters are vowing to mark the second week since a bomb blast on the Beirut seafront killed former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, a Damascus critic.

Hundreds stopped from getting to the square blocked nearby crossings, some of them shouting "we don't want any other army than the Lebanese army".

Pro-government parties, including the Shi'ite Islamist movement Hizbollah, have called their supporters from Monday on to the streets for counter-demonstrations, raising fears of violence that the government used to justify its ban.

"All security forces are asked to take all necessary measures to protect security and order, and to ban demonstrations and gatherings on Monday," Interior Minister Suleiman Frangieh said.

The ban had been ordered "due to the current circumstances, in the supreme national interest and with a view to the requirements of protecting civil peace", he added.

The army's call for the public to heed the ban raised fears that troops would forcibly disperse the opposition sit-ins that have been held nightly since Hariri's death on February 14.

"The ban does not concern us. We are only holding a peaceful sit-in which will be maintained. Let them arrest us," said leading opposition politician Elias Attallah.

Another opposition member, Nassib Lahoud, called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to take "a historic initiative" by announcing the withdrawal of his army from Lebanon, adding that the two countries should maintain "good relations".

The head of the Democratic Rally, a lay movement, told Hariri's Al-Mostaqbal satellite television channel the Syrian president should be "confident in the fact that the Lebanese institutions are capable of assuming their responsibilities and that there will be no separate peace with Israel".

The mounting showdown came as a senior US envoy visited Beirut to press UN Security Council demands for a rapid and complete withdrawal of Syrian troops, and Syrian officials sought Arab backing for their insistence on managing any pullback on their own terms.

The US deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, David Satterfield, called for a "credible investigation" into Mr Hariri's killing and for "concrete steps towards the immediate implementation" of Resolution 1559, passed last September, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

Mr Satterfield said Washington was still waiting for a Syrian pullback to the eastern Bekaa valley announced by Lebanese officials on Thursday.

"We have seen nothing happen on the ground," the US envoy told Future TV, which was owned by the slain former premier.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara, meanwhile, launched a regional tour to seek Arab support for his government's refusal to bow to US-led pressure for a rapid withdrawal.

His Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Abul Gheit, said he was seeking a compromise under which Syria would be allowed to pull back gradually under existing bilateral agreements that would be seen as an indirect way of implementing the Security Council's demands.

 

[onedomino]

It will not be long before Hezbollah bombs anti-Syrian targets in Lebanon. We know that the Syrian and Iranian supported Hezbollah Murder Inc. will stop at nothing to prevent their eviction from the Bekaa Valley and other locations in Lebanon.

 

[Annie]

It will not be long before Hezbollah bombs anti-Syrian targets in Lebanon. We know that the Syrian and Iranian supported Hezbollah Murder Inc. will stop at nothing to prevent their eviction from the Bekaa Valley and other locations in Lebanon.

Whether or not there are clashes should be coming around very soon. It seems nearly inevitable.

 

[Annie]

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/28/lebanon.protests/

Lebanon protesters defy ban
Monday, February 28, 2005 Posted: 0907 GMT (1707 HKT)

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- With Lebanon's pro-Damascus government facing a possible vote of no confidence, thousands of demonstrators have defied a ban and poured into Beirut's city center to protest against Syria's military presence in Lebanon.

"Opposition leaders are calling on the government to resign, a government which they see as staunchly pro-Syrian," CNN's Brent Sadler reported Monday.

The opposition has upped its rhetoric in recent days, taking its cue from international pressure -- led by the United States and France -- to force Syrian troops from Lebanon following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The crowds gathered Monday in Martyr Square despite an order a day earlier by Lebanon's Interior Ministry for military forces to "use all necessary means" to maintain order and make sure the demonstrations did not take place.

Sadler described Monday's protests as non-confrontational, with demonstrators "trickling through security cordons."