Another Anti-Syrian Politician Is Murdered In Lebanon
Insurance companies might consider dropping life insurance to politicians in Lebanon who are known critics of Syria. Yet another one has violently bit the dust:
Antoine Ghanem, the Christian MP murdered in a Beirut car-bomb attack, was a member of the anti-Syrian March 14 block which forms the backbone of the Western-supported Lebanese Government. His death has reduced the number of seats held by the block in the 128-member parliament to 68 — only three more than the Opposition, led by the militant Shia Hezbollah.
Government figures have blamed Syria for Mr Ghanem’s murder, a charge denied strongly by Damascus.
Damascus has been doing a lot of denying as the body count has been piling up:
Boutros Harb, a presidential candidate from the March 14 block, said “This is an attack aimed at sabotaging all efforts to reach a solution to the current political crisis. You cannot separate this killing from the presidential election.â€
The block’s surviving MPs are scheduled to convene on Tuesday to elect a new president to replace Emile Lahoud, a close ally of Syria whose term ends on November 24. But security fears have complicated even further a gruelling political stalemate over the identity of the next head of state.
Some 40 MPs belonging to the March 14 block have sought refuge in a wing of the heavily guarded Phoenicia Hotel — one of Beirut’ s grandest, more accustomed to hosting millionaire holidaymakers from the Gulf states. Since the beginning of the year, Fouad Siniora, the Prime Minister, and most of his Cabinet have been working and sleeping in the Grand Serail, a hill-top Ottoman-era army barracks that houses the Government’s offices.
The New York Times notes that moving into the Hotel is NOT a political ploy — but an effort to literally survive:
Lawmakers from the anti-Syrian governing party, the March 14 Movement, took refuge on Thursday in a landmark hotel near the Parliament building in downtown Beirut because they fear assassination plots aimed at eliminating their razor-thin majority in the House.
The move reflects just how terrified the legislators are after one of their colleagues, Antoine Ghanem, and six others were killed in a powerful car bombing near Beirut on Wednesday. Mr. Ghanem was the fourth member of Parliament and the eighth anti-Syrian figure assassinated since a huge blast killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, setting off a cycle of political crises.
“The problem is now the security of the M.P.s,†said Fares Souaid, a former lawmaker and leader in the March 14 Movement. “Our M.P.s are now locked inside the Phoenicia Hotel under the responsibility of the government and the Internal Security Forces. They will move under their supervision.â€
By staying alive, the members can protect a parliamentary majority that will enable the Western-backed coalition to elect one of its own as president. Deliberations will begin next week to replace President Emile Lahoud, who must step down on Nov. 25.
Prime minister Fouad Siniora’s pro-Western government has been enmeshed in a 10-month-long battle with the Iran and Syrian backed Hezbollah-led opposition. And it’s believed the election of the President could help tip the scales.
“There is a Syrian terrorism against them because they want to elect a new president,†Mr. Souaid said.
In Beirut, crowds gathered to mourn the most recent loss which Lebanon’s worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war even worse. Many Lebanese expatriates are upset over the most recent murder. Analysts believe the murder is clearly aimed at destabilizing Lebanon and sandbagging the election. Lebanon’s Daily Star calls it a breaking point. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Prime Minister has called on the United Nations to help the government’s investigation of the assassination.
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3 Responses to “Another Anti-Syrian Politician Is Murdered In Lebanon”
Interesting post, Joe.
:Hearbreaking post.
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I believe it to be a genuine effort to chronicle Lebanon’s civil war and Israel’s 1982 invasion of the country in as objective a tone as possible. For everything written has a “tone” no matter how objective the author tries to be. I believe the facts speak for themselves. Robert Fisk had first-hand experience of the invasion and subsequent events so this is primary source material and should be read as such. I read the book originally in order to verify certain historical events as they are presented in a novel “The Scar of David”. When I found these events to be confirmed by Fisk’s narrative, I investigated further by searching the Internet for additional verification and found it. All three sources do not present Israel in a particularly flattering light. Is this the result of bias, of anti-Semitism, or simply evidence that the country has behaved badly on occasions? The massacres at Sabra and Chatilla and the shelling of United Nations headquarters in Lebanon in 1996 are historical fact, as is the Holocaust. To deny that they happened, or to accuse Fisk of anti-Semitism because he focuses on these events, is to approach the evidence with a biased eye in favor of Israel. Is Fisk critical of Israel? Yes, he is. Is the criticism justified? I believe so. The horror of the Holocaust has made something of a sacred cow of Israel and with good reason. Six million dead is a figure that is difficult to ignore. But Lebanese and Palestinians are human beings too, and they have suffered as well. If Fisk had any intention in writing this book other than pure journalistic coverage, I believe it to be to point this out. I have read no other books on the subject other than the aforementioned novel, so I cannot compare Fisk’s book to anyone else’s coverage of events. Is he thorough? Certainly. Is the reporting comprehensive? Possibly. 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This was not forth coming, as is unfortunatly, not available anywhere in print, except possibly Wikipedia. This book is a political review of the war. Why it started, the goals, outcomes and conclusions. The authors are blatantly pro-Hezbollah in their writing, and do not attempt to present the Israeli side of the war. I’m fine with that, but others may not find it palatable. Overall, I learned a bit, but I do have to state, that I found some conclusions rather amateurish. I believe this book should be used as a side interlude or manual, in an overall study of the Political History of the MidEast. Lebanon – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lebanon, officially the Lebanese Republic (Arabic:), is a small, largely mountainous country in the Middle East, located at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon is bordered by Syria to … A History of Modern Lebanon Amazon Price: $18.45 There is something unique about this book. It does not only narrate Lebanon’s historical events, it analyzes them from a socio-economic perspective. Traboulsi is not only a historian. He is a seasoned Lebanese political activist and partisan of the now-disbanded Organization of Communist Activity. Accordingly, a number of accounts in his book come from a person who was well-situated to learn about them firsthand. Unlike the description of this book, it is not the only work on Lebanese history in the past forty years. However, the book is certainly the best recommended for first-time readers who have no or minimum background information on the subject. Without going into great detail, the author assembles an enormous amount of information and presents it in this enjoyable read whose language was shaped by a talented Marlin Dick, one of the best Western journalists based in Lebanon. 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