Analysis: Beirut's Power Brokers
Council on Foreign Relations
November 7, 2006
Prepared by: Eben Kaplan
Though a UN resolution may have put a stop to last summer’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, it did not mark an end to the struggle for security and influence in Lebanon. Seemingly out of the blue, the White House last week issued a stern warning to Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, whom it accused of “preparing plans to topple Lebanon's democratically elected government.” Hezbollah and Syria promptly responded that Washington itself was trying to interfere with “the Lebanese people’s choices over their government and policies” (BBC).
At the root of the rhetorical exchange are demands by Hezbollah for representation in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s cabinet and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s threat of street demonstrations (MEMRI) if this demand is not met by November 13. Speaking with CFR.org’s Bernard Gwertzman, Syria expert Jonathan Landis notes that Siniora’s government came into power after massive street protests and Hezbollah believes that by doing the same it would be leveraging its current popularity for legitimate democratic gain.
If Hezbollah gains the cabinet seats it wants, it will have secured veto power on legislative matters. Experts see this as a bid to block the creation of an international court to try those responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria is widely suspected of having played a role in Hariri’s death, and Hezbollah, which gets many of its munitions from Syria, has an interest in protecting Damascus from any formal charges.
Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.
Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.
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