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Lebanon teetering on civil warSaniora: 'Even Israel didn't act like Hizbullah'By ICEJ News Hostilities started last Wednesday (May 7) when Hizbullah militiamen seized sections of west Beirut in response to an attempt by Prime Minister Fouad Sanoira to remove Hizbullah's special presence at the Beirut airport and sever a land-line telephone network controlled by the Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia. Sectarian clashes have raged since across Lebanon between Hizbullah forces and pro-government fighters, particularly in the northern port of Tripoli and in the Druze and Christian mountain areas east of the capital. The crisis subsided somewhat on Sunday after the Lebanese army was asked by Sanoira to mediate the dispute and army commander Michel Suleiman - the compromise candidate for the divided nation's vacant presidential post - decided to rescind the moves against Hizbullah. The Shi'ite militia in turn withdrew its forces from west Beirut neighborhoods, while Druze leader Walid Jumblatt also sought to reduce tensions by calling for unity and calm. But fighting flared again today, as at least 36 people were killed in renewed clashes in Tripoli and in the mountains overlooking Beirut. Officials said machine gun fire and rockets were being used in battles between government supporters and pro-Syrian gunmen. At the height of the fighting over the weekend, Saniora charged that, “Even the Israeli enemy never dared to do to Beirut what Hizbullah has done.” The conflict is bringing back bad memories of the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990, and Arab foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Cairo this weekend to push for an urgent cease-fire in the “very dangerous and very sensitive” crisis. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders have been watching the developing crisis closely, fearing that the Iranian proxy could seize control of Lebanon just as Hamas ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip in June 2007. For its part, the Palestinian Authority on Sunday warned all Palestinians to stay away from the fighting in Lebanon, cautioning that any involvement could negatively affect the 450,000 Palestinians currently living in the country. "Hizbullah is doing exactly what Hamas did in the Gaza Strip," said a PA official. "Of course we are very concerned about the negative role that Iran is playing in Beirut and the Gaza Strip." "Hizbullah sees no difference between the Palestinian Authority and the Saniora government," said another PA official. "As far as Hizbullah is concerned, we are CIA and Mossad agents. They see us as traitors serving the interests of the Americans and Zionists in the Arab world," reported The Jerusalem Post. |
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