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« on: June 16, 2008, 06:15:01 AM » |
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What really happened in Beirut?
by Shiar Youssef
Global Research, June 15, 2008
Armed clashes between Opposition and Loyalist forces in Lebanon last month left up to 84 people dead and raised fears of a renewal of the civil war that devastated the country between 1975 and 1991. But Lebanon's current crisis, of which the recent confrontations were but a manifestation, connects not only to the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri and the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah, but also to the heavy involvement of regional and international powers, including Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the US and France.
Some background
Since the end of the Civil War, Lebanon has hardly been a calm and stable country. During the last three decades, political alliances have repeatedly changed in unpredictable ways, and so have the regional and international 'rules of the game', which have historically had a big role in Lebanese politics. The 1989 Taif Agreement, which in theory provided "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy" in Lebanon, was in practice designed to accommodate the demographic shift to a Muslim majority and the Saudi influence, to legitimise the de facto Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and reassert Lebanese authority in South Lebanon, then occupied by Israel.
In June 1982, the Israeli army invaded South Lebanon following an assassination attempt against Israel's ambassador to the UK by a Palestinian faction (Fatah - The Revolutionary Council, headed by Abu Nidal, then one of Yassir Arafat's main rivals). Surrounded in West Beirut and subject to heavy bombardment, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Syrian forces negotiated a passage from Lebanon with the aid of international 'peacekeeping' forces. In May 1983, Israel and Lebanon, with US 'assistance', reached an accord that set the stage to withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon, while letting them patrol, together with the Lebanese Army, a 'security zone' which Israel claimed was a necessary 'buffer' against Palestinian attacks on its northern territory. The instruments of ratification were never exchanged, however, and in March 1984, under pressure from Syria, Lebanon cancelled the agreement. In January 1985, Israel started to withdraw most of its troops, leaving a small Israeli force and an Israeli-supported militia (the mainly Christian South Lebanon Army led by Sa'd Haddad and then Antoine Lahd) in the occupied areas of South Lebanon.
The Israeli invasion is popularly held to be the major catalyst for the creation of Hezbullah, which, by 1991, was the only armed militia in Lebanon not supported by Israel and, by 2000, had completely replaced the vanquished PLO in the South. In its 1985 manifesto, Hezbullah listed its three main goals as the eradication of "Western colonialism" in Lebanon (meaning Israel and its allies); bringing to justice those who had "committed atrocities" during the civil war (specifically the Phalangists and Lebanese Forces); and the establishment of an Islamic government in Lebanon. Since then, Hezbullah has apparently abandoned the goal of transforming Lebanon into an Islamic state.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Hezbullah receives its financial support mainly from the donations of Lebanese Shiites. According to frequent accounts in the Western press, however, the group receives all or most of its support from Iran and Syria. In any case, what started as a Shiite militia has now grown into a political party with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station and extensive social programmes and services, while keeping, at the same time, a highly organised and trained paramilitary wing. The liberation of South Lebanon in 2000 and the July 2006 war, in which Israel was defeated, further boosted Hizbullah's popularity as a legitimate resistance movement, not only among the poor and marginalised Lebanese Shiite community, but throughout Lebanon and the Arab world. Nonetheless, six countries continue to list Hezbullah as a terrorist organisation, which is said to receive weapons, money and training from Iran and Syria. The "self-appointed anti-terrorism vanguards", as one commentator described them, include the US, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and, of course, Israel.
On 14 February, 2005, the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri was assassinated in a truck bomb attack, which killed 21 and wounded nearly 100. It was the second such incident in four months and one of many in recent years. With close ties to the Saudi, French and American ruling elites, al-Hariri was a billionaire and business tycoon who dominated the country's post-war political and economic life and is credited, by some, for 'reconstructing' the capital Beirut and, by others, for widespread corruption and fraud. During his time as prime minister, the public debt rose from $2.5 billion to over $40 billion and the economic growth slowed from 8% to -1%, while most major industries and public services were privatised and taken over by foreign companies.
Al-Hariri's assassination, however, sparked mass protests that seemed to unite a big number of groups and parties that were otherwise divided or even at war. A chain of demonstrations and 'protest camps', especially in Beirut, have become to be known as the 'Cedar Revolution' - a term coined by the US Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula J. Dobriansky in a news conference, and used to draw a comparison with the 'Rose Revolution' in Georgia and the 'Orange Revolution' in Ukraine [1].
Adopting a blue ribbon as its symbol and "Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence" as a motto, the primary goals of the 'Cedar Revolution' were the withdrawal of Syrian troops (around 14,000 soldiers and intelligence agents at the time) from Lebanon; the establishment of an international tribunal to investigate the assassination of al-Hariri; the resignation of security officials to ensure the success of the plan; and to hold new, free parliamentary elections. In addition, many also called for the return of former prime minister and chief of staff Michel Aoun, who had been in exile since 1989, and the release of the imprisoned Lebanese Forces leader Samir Ja'ja' (or Geagea) as goals of the 'revolution'.
On March 14th, the one-month memorial of the assassination, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese rallied in central Beirut, chanting "Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence" and carrying a huge Lebanese flag. The rally was considered to be "the largest demonstration ever seen in Lebanon", with estimations of a turn-out ranging from 1.2 to 1.5 million people.
A few days before, on March 8th, a massive rally had been called by Hezbullah. With an estimated turn-out of 200,000 to 500,000 pro-Syrian demonstrators, it dwarfed the earlier anti-Syrian events organised by the Hariri camp. In addition to showing off the extent of popular support for Syria in Lebanon, the demonstration reiterated Hezbullah's rejection of UN Resolution 1559, whose call for the disbanding of all Lebanese militias threatens Hizbullah's military wing, and accused Israel and the United States of "meddling in the Lebanese internal affairs."
On 26 April that year, the last Syrian troops and intelligence agents crossed the border withdrawing from Lebanon in line with Resolution 1559, adopted in September of 2004. But the international tribunal continues to be a throne for Syria and a political fiasco on the international level. For despite the lack of any substantial evidence to date implicating any party, the Syrian government has borne the brunt of Lebanese and international outrage at the murder, because of its extensive military and intelligence influence in Lebanon, as well as an alleged public rift between al-Hariri and Damascus just before his last resignation on in October 2004. Lebanese Durzi leader Walid Jumblat, who was until recently a close ally of Syria, alleged in the wake of the assassination that, in August 2004, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad threatened al-Hariri saying "[President of Lebanon] Lahoud is me. ... If you and Chirac want me out of Lebanon, I will break Lebanon." Jumblat was quoted saying "When I heard him telling us those words, I knew that it was his condemnation of death."
In the subsequent parliamentary elections held in May and June 2005, the "Martyr Rafiq al-Hariri" list included the Future Movement, led by Rafiq al-Hariri's son Sa'd (Sunni); the Lebanese Forces, led by Samir Ja'ja' (Christian Maronite); the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), led by Walid Jumblat (Durzi); the reformed Phalanges (al-Kata'eb party), led by former president Amine Gemayel (Christian Maronite); as well as other minor political parties. The Coalition also tactically allied with the Shiite Hizbullah and Amal against General Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM, Christian Maronite) and his pro-Syrian allies and subsequently gained a majority in Parliament. The tactical alliance with Hizbullah and Amal would soon end and these majority parties and movements (the Loyalists) would later form the so-called March 14 Alliance, opposed to the March 8 Coalition (or Opposition), which now includes Hizbullah, Amal, the FPM, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP, secular) and other minor parties and groups.
In July 2005, a new government was formed by Western-backed Fu'ad Seniora, who had been appointed by the then president Emile Lahoud. All the main political blocs were included in it except for the FPM-led bloc. In November 2006, five Shiite ministers from Hezbullah and Amal resigned after the collapse of talks on giving the Opposition more say in government. On December 1st, supporters of Hezbullah, Amal and FPM started a 'protest camp' outside the office of PM Seniora, in an open-ended campaign to topple his government. In November 2007, Emile Lahoud left the presidential palace at the end of his term without a successor being elected. The following day his cabinet assumed "executive powers". On December 5th, Parliament Speaker and leader of Amal Nabih Barri announced that rival Lebanese leaders had agreed on General Michel Suleiman, the army's chief of staff, as president, although the parliament had yet to elect him. As late as 22 April, 2008, the parliament had failed, for the 18th time, to hold a vote to elect the agreed-on president.
Timed bomb?
What sparked the May events in Lebanon was a surprising speech by the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblat MP on May 5th, in which he revealed that Hizbullah was operating a "secret, illegitimate telecommunication network", including "hidden cameras" at the Hariri international airport in southern Beirut. Backed by other pro-government leaders, he considered this a "violation of the country's sovereignty" and demanded that the network is dismantled. The following day, the Ministerial Council opened an investigation into the issue and immediately took two decisions: to dismiss the airport's security chief, General Wafiq Shqeir, who belongs to opposition Shiite group Amal and is said to be close to Hizbullah, and to dismantle Hizbullah's "illegal" telecommunication network.
Needless to say, the story was quickly picked up by Western mainstream media and soon everyone was quoting Condoleezza Rice, George Bush, Nicolas Sarkozy and other 'concerned' politicians saying that Hizbullah was carrying out "illegal activities" and running "a state within a state".
There is a lot of speculation as to why Jumblat and the Loyalists triggered their "bomb" now. Some said it was merely a "retaliation" for the detention of French Socialist Party spokesman Karim Pakzad, who was held and questioned by Hizbullah members for over 5 hours on April 27th, as he was caught driving through the southern suburb of Beirut and taking pictures. Others went that the aim was to "clear" the airport's security staff from "Opposition eyes", so that Loyalist forces could smuggle in American and Israeli weapons through Jordan and Saudi Arabia, similar to what was allegedly happening after the Summer War with Israel under the cover of humanitarian aid. In this context, General Michel Aoun warned, as the escalations started, that "strange planes" were landing at night at the abandoned Ba'dran airport in the mainly Durzi area of Shouf.
Others went further and talked about a wider American-Israeli-Saudi plot to drag Hizbullah, and behind it Syria and Iran, into a bloody conflict, using Hizbullah's 'illegitimate' arms and the sectarian tensions as a pretext. In this context, Hizbullah-owned al-Manar TV exposed, quoting American diplomatic sources, an "American-Saudi plan" that Sa'd al-Hariri allegedly came back with after he was "summoned" to Washington. The report claimed that the procedures included electing Michel Suleiman as president, "whether the opposition agreed or not", coinciding with massing American troops at the Syrian-Iraqi border and accelerating the international tribunal into the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri in order to "frighten" the Syrian regime and prevent it from any unwanted reactions, as well as issuing "strong statements" about the Syrian nuclear programme. These would finally culminate, as the report had it, in "ground operations" by loyal security forces, supported by al-Hariri's and Jumblat's militias, against opposition positions and institutions that the government deems illegitimate, such as Hizbullah's telecommunication network [2].
Reports further claimed that the plan was coordinated by a former American diplomat in Beirut, who had reportedly supervised, along with Saudi and Jordanian intelligence services, the training of Lebanese militias in Jordan and other Arab countries [3].
It is also worth mentioning that both the American and Saudi governments had warned their citizens in Lebanon, prior to the events, to "be careful" and "leave the country". Besides, the deployment of US warships near the Lebanese coast since late February made the Opposition suspect that something serious was being planned (guided missile destroyer USS Cole took station off Lebanon's coast on 28 February, 2008, as the first of an anticipated three-ship flotilla).
French website Geopolitique.com has since published a map supposedly showing the Hizbullah telecom network, which not only connects South Lebanon to South Beirut (the Suburb, as it is called, which is a Hizbullah stronghold) but also extends to the eastern and northern parts of the country [4]. The map was allegedly prepared by Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hammadeh, who is a member of Jumblat's party, with the help of Lebanese intelligence services. The website editor, Guillaume Dasquié, said the map was obtained from "sources close to Jumblat" and added that it had already been circulating among international capitals, such as Paris and Washington, since March 2008.
Another news site, run by Syrian dissident journalist Nizar Nayouf, also published a copy of the map, dated 17 January 2008 and addressed, in Hebrew, to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and marked in red with a "top secret" stamp [5]. The Hebrew version had 7 pages, of which the website only obtained the first two, and presumed that the missing pages contained further information and maps/pictures of the Hizbullah telecom network.
According to Hizbullah, however, its telecom network had existed before 2000, but was enhanced afterwards and played a crucial role in defeating Israel in the July 2006 war. It further insists that the Lebanese government has been aware of it, so bringing it up now must have been "politically motivated".
In any case, legal commentators have wondered why "supposedly secret documents" would reach the hands of politicians who would "exploit them for media and political gains", instead of carrying out a "real investigation" supervised by the concerned judicial and security bodies. "Even if the information Jumblat exposed were true," they added, "leaking it to the media and the public would surely affect the investigation and legal process" and "as a member of parliament, Jumblat should be aware of that."
Easy victory
In his speech, Hasan Nasrallah considered the government's decisions a "declaration of war" against the Opposition and an attempt to "strip the Resistance of its arms." Later on, he said that "any hand that will touch the arms of Resistance will be cut off". A decision was taken to close down the Beirut airport and the road leading to it, as well as some other key roads to and from Beirut, until the government has backed down. A few "protest camps" were also set up, similar to the one that had been going on in the city centre for over a year and a half.
Incidentally, May 7th was also a work strike led by country's union federation to demand higher wages and decry high prices. The Opposition had thrown their weight behind the strike, which paralysed large parts of the capital Beirut. Around the city, protesters blocked roads with barricades and burning tires.
Some minor clashes erupted between Loyalist and Opposition supporters in west Beirut, with insults exchanged and stones thrown at each other. A few hours later, a few hand grenades were thrown at various Oppositions areas and at the central protest camp, while also threatening to shoot protesters if they passed through the Mazra'a corniche. The use of weapons by Loyalists was seen by the Opposition as a "golden opportunity" to "move".
The Opposition moves gradually became more systematic, with Amal and SSNP militiamen, backed by the more experienced Hizbullah fighters, sweeping Shiite areas and advancing to occupy a couple of Future Movement positions, using limited fires. Surprised by the ease with which they achieved that, and sensing that the army was not intending to interfere against them, they kept on advancing to occupy Loyalists positions one after the other.
While most Western mainstream media were 'reporting' that "the Iran- and Syria-backed Shiite militia" had "taken over" west Beirut, often adding the words "which is mostly inhabited by Sunnis" (it is, in fact, a patchwork of Sunni and Shiite areas), what happened on the ground was quite different. Opposition forces were surrounding Loyalist positions and strongholds, often without entering them, and terrorising their fighters into giving up without causing huge casualties on either side. In fact, most Loyalist fighters threw their weapons and surrendered voluntarily or fled away.
Thus, all the buildings taken and the weapons seized by Opposition forces were immediately handed over to the army or military intelligence, in a move that was described by many as "unprecedented" in the history of armed conflicts in Lebanon. It was, further, a concrete proof that Hizbullah had no intention of seizing power or undertaking a coup d'état, as many politicians and media outlets were screaming at the time.
Opposition commanders had estimated that, in case of similar scenarios, there would be about 50 main "contact points" at or near positions and building belonging to the Future movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Forces. It was also estimated that these would have about 3,000 fighters, in addition to some 900 security forces loyal to them that may join in. With an average of 10 casualties per contact point, it was estimated that there would be at least 500 casualties on both sides. But as the day went on, this proved to be an overestimation. By the end of the day, al-Jazeera reported that the day saw only 6 dead and about 10 wounded.
On Thursday (May 8th), as the government did not respond to Nasrallah's demands made in a sharp and determined speech, Opposition forces advanced further to seize more Loyalist positions but there were clear orders to spare the palaces of the Loyalist leaders (Jumblat, al-Hariri etc.). By nightfall, central Beirut was under the control of Opposition forces, with the Future Movement's main headquarters having fallen into their hands. Some sporadic fire exchanges continued to be heard here and there, while Opposition vehicles carrying heavy anti-aircraft guns strolled down the Hamra Street.
At the Hariri-owned Future TV and newspaper offices in Burj al-Murr, where around 420 Future militiamen were stationed and refused to surrender, fires were exchanged until the early morning, when Opposition forces took control and handed them over to the army. A while later, the 4th floor was set on fire by SSNP militiamen. In retaliation, the following day Future militiamen executed and mutilated 11 SSNP unarmed members, who had surrendered their weapons at one of their offices in Halba, north Lebanon [6].
Other horrific scenes that did not often make it to the Western media reports included: PSP militiamen kidnapping 3 Hizbullah members and executing two of them, then dumping their mutilated bodies outside a hospital in 'Aley, Mount Lebanon, for which Jumblat later "apologised"; Loyalist snipers on top of buildings in various parts of Beirut shooting at civilians; Loyalist gunmen randomly shooting at residential areas in the Mazra'a and Barbour areas, for example; Future militiamen setting Opposition supporters' houses on fire in Tripoli; PSP militiamen taking hostage two vehicles, with women and children on board, but later releasing them. Of significance also was the resignation of PSP's central security commander, Marwan Sa'b, who accused Jumblat of "betraying the cause" and called upon other members to follow suit.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council, pushed by the Americans and the French, made a hasty statement condemning Hizbullah and supporting the Seniora government. The latter, however, agreed to refer its two decisions that sparked the conflict to the army, which decided, minutes later, to revoke them and reinstate General Shqeir as the chief of the airport's security. In response, the Opposition accepted to remove all armed presence but promised to keep the "civil disobedience" going and Sunday (May 11th) was declared a day of "national strike". By Saturday evening, however, Beirut was almost calm again, having been "cleared of armed men and trouble makers". Sporadic clashes would still continue in other parts of the country over the few following days. Overall, 84 people were killed and some 200 wounded. Among the dead were 16 civilians, 27 Loyalist and 39 Opposition fighters.
With the surprising fast fall of their forces and the apparent failure of their move, Loyalist leaders seemed to back down, now talking, with a clear change in tone, about peace and dialogue. PM Seniora is quoted to have said that "it did not deserve all this fuss" and al-Hariri that "there was a misunderstanding". But the most surprising statements came from Jumblat, the man who more or less started it all. According to the head of al-Jazeera office in Beirut Ghassan bin Jiddo, Jumblat asked the Qatari prime minister to "convey a message" to Nasrallah saying that "the conflict between us is temporary" and that "the [Druze] Mount will always cover the back of Resistance and Beirut will remain its cradle"! Indeed, as one Lebanese commentator put it, "Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks as if there is no future, but March 14 government coalition leaders, Walid Jumblat, Saad Hariri and Fouad Siniora, speak as if there is no past." [7]
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