Walking the razor’s edge in Lebanon

Their machinations led to the deadly outcome of the recent demonstrations protesting the cuts in municipal services in greater Beirut.

The crisis creators were not able to gain control of the presidency and the army through the normal political process so they resorted to the plan to create chaos, which led to the unfortunate incident in Beirut.

After residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs took to the streets to protest against the recent cuts in water and electricity service, eight people, who were said to be members of Amal and Hezbollah, were shot dead by unidentified gunmen and over 50 were injured.

Water and electricity services have been repeatedly cut in the western and southern areas of greater Beirut to provoke the citizens and prepare the ground for a civil war.

After the bloodshed, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora announced a day of national mourning in an attempt to take advantage of the situation.

Hezbollah and Amal issued a statement, urging the people to remain vigilant and to refrain from any kind of uncontrolled reaction.

Lebanon is walking the razor’s edge and the slightest incident could cause things to spin out of control.

The March 14 group is trying to exclude other Lebanese political factions from participation in important political and governmental affairs and has rejected all reasonable solutions.

The group even turned down the recent proposal of the Arab League foreign ministers, even though it would have helped them realize their objectives to a certain extent, and thus Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa’s efforts fell flat.

With the political support of regional and extra-regional powers, the March 14 group, led by Saad al-Hariri, is trying to grab a disproportionate share of seats in Lebanon’s future cabinet so that they can eventually implement UN resolutions 1559 and 1701.

The March 14 group wants to disarm Hezbollah and marginalize the March 8 group, which is led by Free Patriotic Movement party chief Michel Aoun, but they have been unable to attain their goal due to the vigilance of Hezbollah and Amal.

In addition, serious incidents like the assassination of Lebanese intelligence officer Captain Wissam Eid are part of the “chaos plan” which is unfolding in the country.

These unfortunate incidents show that as the time for the release of the Winograd report approaches, Lebanon’s chaos creators, who are the puppets of the Zionist regime, are trying to direct attention to Gaza and Beirut.

The report will present an analysis of Hezbollah’s capabilities and the Israeli army’s mistakes during the 2006 war in Lebanon.

After its release, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will probably fall.

Hence the incidents in Gaza and Beirut could be somewhat related to Winograd, since it appears that Olmert has ordered his agents to create a crisis in Lebanon in a desperate attempt to blunt the impact of the report.

Of course, if any of Lebanon’s political groups try to use the issues of the presidential election and the makeup of the future cabinet to serve their own interests, without taking into account the conspiracies of certain elements affiliated to foreign powers, then surely the objectives of the enemy will be realized and the Lebanese nation will be the biggest loser in this dangerous game.

(Jan. 30 Tehran Times Opinion Column, by Hassan Hanizadeh)

RMN/HG

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MNA