It was mostly the Sunni Muslims of Lebanon that let loose today in Lebanon in a fit of rage over the continued move by Hezbollah to take over Lebanon...which culminated with Hezbollah's nominee for Prime Minister Najib Mikati garnering more parliamentary votes than the present Prime Minister. Hezbollah has named their puppet leader, a former Prime Minister, and he won by 8 more votes - the news did not go over well with Sunnis and I'm sure it didn't go over well with Christians and Druze, either.
From the article at The Telegraph:
Thousands of Sunni Muslim in Lebanon have staged protests in a "day of rage" against the Shiite militant group Hizbollah, which is on the brink of taking control of Lebanon's next government.
The largest gathering took place in the northern city of Tripoli on Tuesday, where thousands of people called on Najib Mikati, Hezbollah's candidate for prime minister, not to accept the post and shouted slogans of support for Saad Hariri, the caretaker prime minister.
A senior military official said several armed men fired in the air in west Beirut, but the army intervened and dispersed them. Protesters also torched a truck belonging to al-Jazeera.
Mr Mikati urged calm and said he wanted to represent all of Lebanon. "This is a democratic process," he told reporters. "I want to rescue my country."
But lawmaker Moustafa Alloush said that Hizbollah was trying to "belittle the prime ministry" – a position that under Lebanon's sectarian power sharing system is reserved only for Sunnis."Any person who accepts Hezbollah's appointment of the prime minister is a betrayer of the people of Tripoli," Alloush said at a heated news conference.
Believe me in this - this is not going to be a smooth transition. I think we are going to see attacks by Sunni militants against armed forces and police, I think we are going to see Christians and Druze rise up and yes, I think we are going to see bloodshed.
Those in Lebanon who are not Shia and certainly not in awe of Hezbollah know this will be the end of their life as they know it. I mentioned the other day that I'd be getting the hell out of Dodge if I was a Christian in Lebanon.
And what is mind boggling is how this is all happening at mind numbing speed. Hezbollah is planning it that way, as is Iran and Syria - it needs to be a swift shift in power before any foreign country objects or sheds more light on it. But speaking of that - have any of you heard a single peep about what is going on by ANY Western leader? Nope. It's cricket time, baby.
We have a few Israelis who want to expand their settlement by a few hundred yards and every Western leader is at a podium making a speech about occupation and aggression yet when Hezbollah works to overthrow the Lebanese government, it's silence. Is Hillary Clinton even on the job here? Will President Obama express his concerns tonight? Yeah, right.
Lebanese rally against Hizbollah in 'day of rage'
Thousands of Sunni Muslim in Lebanon have staged protests in a "day of rage" against the Shiite militant group Hizbollah, which is on the brink of taking control of Lebanon's next government.
The largest gathering took place in the northern city of Tripoli on Tuesday, where thousands of people called on Najib Mikati, Hezbollah's candidate for prime minister, not to accept the post and shouted slogans of support for Saad Hariri, the caretaker prime minister.
A senior military official said several armed men fired in the air in west Beirut, but the army intervened and dispersed them. Protesters also torched a truck belonging to al-Jazeera.
Mr Mikati urged calm and said he wanted to represent all of Lebanon. "This is a democratic process," he told reporters. "I want to rescue my country."
But lawmaker Moustafa Alloush said that Hizbollah was trying to "belittle the prime ministry" – a position that under Lebanon's sectarian power sharing system is reserved only for Sunnis."Any person who accepts Hezbollah's appointment of the prime minister is a betrayer of the people of Tripoli," Alloush said at a heated news conference.
Mr Hariri has said he will not join a government headed by a Hizbollah-backed candidate. His Future bloc declared Tuesday would be a day of peaceful protests – but called it a "day of rage" and played on the sectarian dimension of the conflict.
Iranian backed Hizbollah – considered a terrorist organisation by the US – has secured enough support in parliament to name Mr Mikati, Lebanon's former premier, as prime minister.
Hizbollah brought down Hariri's Western-backed government earlier this month, after he refused the group's demand to cease co-operation with a UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, his father. Hizbollah denies any role in the killing, but is widely expected to be indicted.
The militant group's Western-backed opponents maintain that having an Iranian proxy in control of Lebanon's government would be disastrous and lead to international isolation.
The United States, which has poured in $720 million in military aid since 2006, has tried to end the influence of Hizbollah, Syria and Iran.
PJ Crowley, the US State Department spokesman, warned that a Hizbollah controlled government in Lebanon would be "problematic."
1 comment:
I hope Lebanon learns something from these ongoing revolutionary events taking place in North Africa. Instead, all that we are seeing at the moment is continuous violence and serious schisms taking place in the Lebanese society as to which billionaire politician will be most favored to assume the role of prime minister of Lebanon.
Lastly, I said this before and I will continue saying it again the root of all evil in Lebanon is the sectarianism and its political superstructure this represents.
My assumption is that the current sectarian political system is the sole reason that prevents "class consciousness" from being built up among the general masses which is necessary precursor for any revolutionary change.
Today Lebanon faces similar contradictions or worth then Tunisia especially in socio economic matters. The distinction, however, comes in the division of Lebanese working class among sectarian lines which this becomes a barrier for soliderity movements to form in a camaraderie spirit.
The hell with March 14 and March 8 politicians..............
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