Who In Lebanon Will Not Surrender?

Shiites can’t stand Sunis. Arabs hate Persians. White Arabs kill Black Arabs. Muslims hate non-Muslims. So why’s the world keep focusing on Israel like she’s got something to do with it? Can’t the world see it’s the Arabs? It’s the Muslims? Or is the world just so anti-Semitic and so in love with oil that our love has made us blind?

I ask as a prelude to an update on what’s going on in Lebanon.

Now that the shooting is dying down, the top politicos are jostling for position. People such as Walid Jumblatt and Saad Hariri. These are some of the most interesting people alive. Part patriot, part lunatic. You decide:

Hariri vows March 14 leaders ‘will not surrender’
Suleiman describes violence as a ‘civil war that no national army can put an end to or take part in’

The Daily Star, with AFP, additional reporting by Nafez Qawas

Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri vowed on Tuesday that the Western-backed ruling coalition would not negotiate with Hizbullah “with a gun pointed at our heads.” Meanwhile, the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), General Michel Suleiman, said the country has witnessed in the past few days a “civil war that no national army can put an end to or take part in.”

During a news conference at his residence in Qoraytem, Hariri said the government “will not surrender to Hizbullah’s allies, Syria and Iran.”

“They are asking Beirut to raise white flags and they are asking Saad Hariri, [head of the Democratic Gathering MP] Walid Jumblatt and the March 14 majority to agree to the return of the Syrian regime in Lebanon or hand over decision-making to the Syrian and Iranian regimes,” Hariri said. “This is totally impossible … They cannot get Saad Hariri, Walid Jumblatt or any March 14 leader to surrender to Iran or Syria.”

The anti-Syrian majority refuses to negotiate with the Hizbullah-led opposition “with a pistol pointed at our heads,” Hariri said. “This will not happen even if they fire at us.”

Fighting between Hizbullah and its allies and mostly Sunni and Druze pro-government loyalists since Wednesday has killed at least 62 people, in the worst internal unrest since the 1975-1990 Civil War.
The clashes erupted after the government ordered a probe into the telecommunications network of Hizbullah and the sacking of Beirut airport’s security chief over his suspected links to the Shiite group.
Hizbullah, which seized control of mostly Muslim western Beirut on Friday before handing it over to the army, has accused the government of declaring a war against it and demanded that the decisions be revoked.

Hariri emphasized that the fundamental issues to be discussed during future dialogue meetings were national security and strengthening the state. “This is sedition,” he said. “What did they mean or achieve by raising pictures of [Syrian President] Bashar Al-Assad inside of our offices?”

Hariri also denied the government’s responsibility for the crisis, and reiterated that the government’s decisions on Hizbullah’s communications network and the transfer of Wafiq Choucair from his post as head of airport security were in the hands of the LAF. “The civil disobedience campaign will only end when Prime Minister Fouad Siniora officially rescinds his decisions and when his camp returns to the negotiating table,” an official with Hizbullah ally Amal told AFP.

Hizbullah and Amal have said that the only way to solve 18 months of deadlock that has prevented the election of a president is through dialogue. In the news conference on Tuesday, Hariri said: “A civil war needs two sides, and that is why we will not head for civil war … The government made two decisions for the sake of Lebanon, and it was not an attack on Hizbullah.”

Hariri also welcomed Wednesday’s scheduled arrival of an Arab League delegation in Beirut, saying they had “always tried to save Lebanon from the tragedies of the Syrian and Iranian regimes.”
Also Tuesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal held a press conference in Riyadh, calling on all Lebanese to respond to the efforts of the Arab mediation team. The delegation is expected to seek an end to deadly sectarian fighting that erupted in Lebanon last week.

A League official in Cairo said the delegation, to be headed by Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, would assemble in Doha on Tuesday before flying in to Beirut on Wednesday.

Faisal openly accused Iran of supporting what he called the Hizbullah-led “coup” in Lebanon. He also commented on the departure of Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Abdel Aziz Khoja to Riyadh, saying Khoja had been called back to Saudi Arabia for consultations and would return to Beirut if the situation calms down.

In comments to Saudi daily Al-Watan on Tuesday, Khoja said that he left following the request of Saudi officials in order to discuss the tense situation in Lebanon with them and the appropriate measures to take to find a way out of the present crisis.

“My return to Riyadh for discussions is a normal procedure undertaken by all ambassadors with their governments,” said Khoja, who reportedly traveled to Cyprus by boat before flying home. He added that Saudi Arabia is closely following the “worrying situation in Lebanon and is seeking, along with the Arab Ministerial Committee, to find a solution based on the Arab initiative” aimed at finding a way out of the impasse. “I hope that Lebanese politicians are aware of the dangerous situation and make efforts to reject violence and find a solution,” he said.

Khoja had already told Al-Watan upon arrival in Riyadh Monday that “the Saudi Embassy in Lebanon is operating under fire.” He added that the embassy is working day and night in the service of Saudi nationals in Lebanon: “We evacuated 60 Saudi nationals yesterday and are preparing to evacuate 40 more today.”

In separate developments, the Suleiman has reportedly told his officers that Lebanon experienced a civil war that no regular force can contain. The Central News Agency said on Tuesday Suleiman made the remarks in messages addressed to all army officers.

“What has happened in the streets of Lebanon is a real civil war that no national army in the world can confront. Major states encountered such wars and its armies could not contain the fight,” Suleiman’s message said. Such armies had “disintegrated,” Suleiman stressed. “We should not permit outbreak of the civil war,” Suleiman told his officers.

However, he said that containing a civil war can be achieved by political efforts.
Suleiman said “goodwill efforts” exerted both domestically and outside Lebanon could result in “settlements to the crisis. We hope such settlements would be reached soon.”
Also on Tuesday, Siniora’s office issued a statement announcing that the Cabinet will convene on Wednesday at the Grand Serail.

Arab league delegation scheduled to arrive today

BEIRUT: An Arab delegation is expected in Beirut on Wednesday in a bid to end deadly fighting that erupted in Lebanon last week

The delegation is expected to hold talks with Speaker nabih Berri, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, army chief Michel Suleiman, Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, and two pro-government figures - Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri.
The delegation, to be headed by Qatari Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani and Arab league Secretary General Amr Moussa, assembled in Doha Tuesday. It will fly to Beirut on Sheikh Hamad’s private plane. Sheikh Hamad’s security crew arrived in Beirut on Tuesday.
An official from the Arab League, speaking on condition of anonymity said Monday the League had insisted that the flight land at Beirut’s airport, blocked by protesters since Wednesday.