Lebanon On the Edge
They are standing on the very brink of the precipice in Lebanon right now. Hezbollah, loyal puppets to Syria and Iran, plan mass demonstrations next week to bring down the government. It appears that they will go ahead with this even though Hezbollah has an appalling record for actually be able to understand the repercussions of their crappy decisions.
A political crisis has been brewing for weeks with the pro-Syrian Hezbollah demanding more say in a government dominated by ministers from an anti-Damascus coalition.
The anti-Syrian camp's rejection of that demand means Hezbollah will now work to bring down Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's 16-month-old government. Siniora's allies say Hezbollah's real aims are to block an international court into the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
"We are heading for a confrontation," a senior political source close to the opposition said. "The room for a political solution is very, very tight.
"There is no room other than going to the street," he said.
The mood in Lebanon is already volatile.
Hundreds of angry Shi'ite Muslims took to the streets in a Beirut suburb on Thursday to protest at what they said were insults against Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at the funeral of an assassinated anti-Syrian minister the same day.
Nasrallah himself had to appeal for the protesters to disperse before the late-night demonstrations ended peacefully.
All six opposition ministers — five Shi'ites and a Christian — quit Siniora's government this month after the majority coalition refused to include enough pro-Syrians in the 24-member cabinet to give the opposition effective veto power.
The pro-Syrian forces are trying very hard to derail the UN trial. Which is kind of odd, when you think about it. What conceivable use has the UN been up until now? Something to think hard about there, isn't it?
World news | Gaius November 24, 2006
By Quilly Mammoth, November 24, 2006 @ 11:35 pm
The answer is France. For some odd reason France feels it needs to protect Lebanon. Perhaps to secure it’s place as a peace maker in a troubled region as it did so in the 50s.
Because of France’s support the Un Trial has been proceeding apace. However, should the UN actually find that Syria had commissioned the murder they will once again prove their uselessness by doing nothing further about it.