Is Lebanon returning to the bad old days of daily violence, even teetering on the bring of civil war? There are real fears now:
BEIRUT, Lebanon Feb 15, 2005 — An angry mob attacked Syrian workers in southern Lebanon Tuesday and another group threw stones and set fires outside a Syrian government office in Beirut, blaming Damascus for the bomb that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Syria has denied any involvement in Hariri’s assassination, which raised fears that Lebanon might revert to the political violence of the 1970s and ’80s, and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut warned Americans in the Lebanese capital to exercise extreme caution.
Condemnation and expressions of shock came from around the Arab world and beyond. The United States called Monday’s attack “a terrible reminder” that Lebanon still must shake free of occupation by Syria, which maintains 15,000 troops here since the civil war ended in 1990 and has the final say in internal Lebanese politics.
Syria is acknowledged in many circles — and not just neocons — to be one of the bad guys on the Mid-East stage. And the tolerance level for several countries including the United States may not be too high for it. More:
Before his assassination, Hariri had positioned himself in opposition to a faction more solidly backed by Syria.
Strictly coincidental, we’re sure…
In Hariri’s hometown of Sidon on southern Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast, dozens of demonstrators attacked Syrian workers Tuesday, slightly wounding five before police intervened. Hundreds of others marched in the streets. Black banners and pictures of the slain leader covered the streets as the country began three days of official mourning.
On Monday night, a mob attacked the offices of the Lebanese chapter of Syria’s ruling Baath Party in Beirut with stones and set fire to shacks used to exchange money and sell cigarettes in front of it.
Police said the toll from the bombing was 14 dead and about 120 injured. A claim of responsibility by a previously unknown Islamic militant group Support and Jihad in Syria and Lebanon was not considered credible, with Justice Minister Adnan Addoum warning it could be an attempt “to mislead the investigation.”
At the site of the bombing, cordoned off by troops, experts combed rooftops and the street for evidence. Security officials have not confirmed initial reports that said the blast was caused by a car bomb. Residents swept debris from their balconies; at the HSBC bank, workers cleared glass shards and blinds from shattered windows, throwing them down to the street.
Not pretty…but it’s clear Syria is going to be intensely watched by several countries in the near future.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.