Lebanon, in an endless quagmire

I have been affiliated with the Phalange party (Phalanges Libanaises) of Lebanon for many years and have maintained close contacts with the family clan dominating the Phalange for decades. The current situation in Lebanon, which let to the ouster of Prime Minister Saad Hariri (a Sunni, as mandated under Lebanon's constitution) today and the coup-style installation of MP Najib Mikati, threatens to spin out of control. Mikati is a traitor, a Sunni MP from Tripolis, who ran and won as a candidate of the Hariri-led party in 2009. Today he has become an agent of the extremist Hezbollah, and this threatens to plunge Lebanon once again to the brink of civil war.

I was about to travel to Lebanon on Friday. The trip was cancelled yesterday at the urging of the (British) Foreign Office.

The coup staged by Hezbollah was to prevent the UN-sponsored tribunal investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Harik Hariri (father of the now ousted PM) in 2005 to reveal its findings, which put the blame for the killing solely on Hezbollah.

Kataeb Party (Phalange) leader Amin Gemayel reiterated his party’s support for caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri for the prime minister’s post, saying he was the most competent person to form a new government.

Gemayel, who was on an official visit to Egypt, spoke to reporters in Cairo after meeting with Arab League’s Secretary General Amr Moussa, who warned that Lebanon was in danger claiming that “we must take care of Lebanon regardless of any other considerations.” After discussing the Lebanese crisis the day before with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Gemayel also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit.

“Consultations have been under way to appoint a new prime minister for Lebanon. We stood on the side of Prime Minister Saad Hariri to form this government,” Gemayel said. He added that supporting Hariri was “very normal following the last parliamentary elections which resulted in a majority for Prime Minister Hariri who represents the most important parliamentary bloc and the most important Sunni bloc.”

“Since the prime minister is a Sunni, he [Hariri] is the most competent lawmaker to assume this responsibility,” Gemayel said. In a statement after meeting Mubarak last Saturday, Gemayel accused Hezbollah and its allies of staging a coup by attempting to oust Hariri from power, an argument since then shared by Lebanese Forces leader Geagea and others in the March 14 Alliance.
“What is currently happening in Lebanon is a creeping coup which began with steps taken by political parties backed by the force of illegitimate arms,” Gemayel said. “This leads to a coup against constitutional institutions and imposes the logic of arms at the expense of the parties which believe in democracy and freedom.”
Gemayel’s endorsement comes a day after Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea also voiced his support for Hariri, claiming that any government led by former Prime Minister Omar Karami would be disastrous for the country’s currency and economy and would usher in a new period of Syrian domination.

If this occurs, “[former Syrian intelligence chief in Lebanon] Rustom Ghazali will have the dominant position in forming the government and it will be formed between him and [Hezbollah security official] Wafiq Safa,” warned Geagea during his speech on LBC television. “It will be similar to Gaza and everyone can imagine the stance from the other Arab governments except for Syria,” he said.

Both Christian leaders alluded that “heavy pressure” was being exerted on Lebanese MPs to not support Hariri.

Hariri’s national unity Cabinet collapsed on Jan. 12 when ministers of Hezbollah and its March 8 allies resigned in a dispute over the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, probing the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.