Lebanon talks under way in Qatar

Source: AlJazeera.net


Lebanon's political leaders have agreed to form a committee to discuss the country's electoral law, as part of ongoing crisis talks in Qatar.

The agreement on Saturday to form a four-member panel to look at the electoral law follows a deal brokered by the Arab League to end the worst internal fighting in Lebanon since the 1975-90 civil war.

Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's prime minister, and Saad al-Hariri, leader of the majority in parliament, are among those from the government present at the talks.

The latest developments coincide with a visit to the region by George Bush, the US president, who has accused Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian allies of setting out to destablise the country.

Plea for agreement
Both sides of Lebanon's political divide are discussing several issues at the meeting, which opened on Friday.

They are examining the make-up of a national unity government, especially the opposition's demand that all sides have the power to veto decisions.

Also, all sides must agree on a new election law before next year's parlimentary vote in June.
The presidency will go to General Michel Suleiman, Lebanon's army commander, if they resolve issues around the unity government and electoral law.

Finally, the leaders will discuss weapons held by Lebanese armed groups, which could prove to be the thorniest issue of all, given that Hezbollah has consistently refused to disarm.
Issues at stake

The make-up of a national unity government, particularly a demand by the opposition that all sides have the power to veto decisions

The formation of a new electoral law
Lebanon's presidency will go to General Michel Suleiman, Lebanon's army commander, if the above issues are resolved

Weapons held by Lebanese armed groups, particularly Hezbollah, will be discussed
Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reported that there was a lot of hope that the talks would yield positive results.

"People have a lot of hope that it will work. However, they know that the issues are real. The political factions that are here have different interests, different concerns and have different visions for Lebanon," she said.

"It is not an easy job to bring them all together and to get them agree in a short time as well."Only a week ago, these leaders were talking to each other through the guns and there were bloody clashes between their supporters on the streets.

"However, there seems to be a will, not only among the Lebanese factions but also from the regional Arab countries and Iran, that this crisis has to be contained and an end to the violence has to be put."

Arab League plan
A six-point plan was approved on Thursday under the mediation of an Arab League delegation headed by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who is both Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister.

Under the deal, the rivals undertook to launch a dialogue "to shore up the authority of the Lebanese state throughout the country", to refrain from using weapons to further political aims, and to remove fighters from the streets.

It also called for the rivals to refrain from using language that could incite violence, as well as the removal of roadblocks that have prevented access to Beirut airport and other parts of the country.

Shortly after the six-point plan was announced, the opposition cleared a series of roadblocks leading to Beirut airport.

Air traffic came in to land at the airport shortly afterwards.
The Arab League intervention was prompted by the worst sectarian violence since the 1975-1990 civil war, marked by the takeover by opposition fighters from Hezbollah and its allies such as the Amal of large swaths of west Beirut.

Hopes of a settlement between the majority and the oppositon were raised on Wednesday after Siniora's government cancelled two measures against Hezbollah that were seen as the trigger for the latest unrest.

The cabinet rescinded plans to investigate a private Hezbollah phone network and reassign the head of airport security over allegations that he is close to Hezbollah.
Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief, had branded those moves a declaration of war.
Parliament in Beirut is scheduled to convene on June 10 for its 20th attempt to elect a president.

Both sides agree on General Michel Suleiman, the army chief, as the new president, but they remain divided over the details of a proposed unity government and a new law for parliamentary elections due next year.

Six opposition ministers quit the Siniora cabinet in November 2006, sparking the current political crisis.

Lebanon cabinet cancels crackdown

Source: AlJazzera.net

Lebanon's cabinet has endorsed a decision to revoke two measures that cracked down on Hezbollah and sparked fierce gun battles in Beirut last week.

The violence was sparked when the government issued an order to dismantle Hezbollah's communications system and to sack the head of airport security.

Wednesday's decision appeared to be a major victory for Hezbollah and seconds after the announcement, celebratory gunfire erupted south of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Pro-government and opposition factions had reached a deal to revoke the two decisions after an Arab League delegation met both sides in Beirut on Wednesday.

The cabinet said it endorsed the deal to respect the League's mediation efforts to end Lebanon's 18-month-old political crisis.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the streets of Beirut, said the immediate crisis appeared to be over, with the opposition saying it would lift roadblocks, particularly on the crucial road to the airport.

It has also pledged to end its civil disobedience.


Shifting power balance

But he said Wednesday's climbdown by the government also indicated that the balance of power in Lebanon had shifted.

The opposition had showed its military strength and that would not soon be forgotten.

Hezbollah and its allies last week routed government supporters and briefly seized control of large parts of Beirut, before handing them over to the army.

The Lebanese army continued to patrol throughout the country on Wednesday with orders to use force to restore security if necessary, security officials said.

A decision by the government to ban Hezbollah's private communications network and a move to fire Beirut airport's security chief, who is close to the group, sparked the violence last week, the worst in Lebanon since the 1975-90 civil war.

Six days of fighting left at least 65 people dead and about 200 people wounded.

Opposition fighters pulled back after the army reversed the government decisions.


US pressure

Senior US security officials said Washington plans to intensify its pressure on Syria and Iran over their alleged support for Hezbollah's moves against the Lebanese government.

George Bush, the US president, who arrived in Israel on Wednesday, warned Iran and Syria on the eve of his trip that world powers would not allow Lebanon to fall under foreign domination and vowed to shore up the Lebanese military.

Washington also said it was expecting the UN Security Council to take action next week over the unrest.

Update May 14th - Government Pulls Back

* Lebanese Government officially withdrew its last two decisions
Things should start to calm down through the coming few days,

A comment from swissinfo on the scenario in place:

"Rescinding a ban on Hezbollah's communications network and the sacking of Beirut airport's security chief, who is close to the group, is one of Hezbollah's demands to lift its blockade of the airport and its campaign of civil disobedience.

It would also be a first step towards easing a broader 18-month-long standoff between Siniora's government and opposition forces that has left Lebanon without a president since November."

It is expected that existing blockade on main roads and junction will pull back in the coming few hours.

Lebanon set to cancel anti-Hezbollah measures

Source: www.swissinfo.ch

By Yara Bayoumy

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's cabinet is likely to cancel measures on Wednesday that angered the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and triggered the worst internal conflict since the country's civil war, political sources said.

"You can say it's a done deal, but we're waiting for the cabinet meeting," one political source said shortly before Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who is supported by the United States, convened his ministers for talks at 4:30 p.m. British time.

Other political sources said later the cabinet was also debating the timing of any announcement of the cancellations.

Rescinding a ban on Hezbollah's communications network and the sacking of Beirut airport's security chief, who is close to the group, is one of Hezbollah's demands to lift its blockade of the airport and its campaign of civil disobedience.

It would also be a first step towards easing a broader 18-month-long standoff between Siniora's government and opposition forces that has left Lebanon without a president since November.

At least 81 people have been killed since violence broke out on May 7 following the cabinet decisions against Hezbollah, which routed its rivals in six days of fighting and briefly seized control of parts of Beirut.

U.S. President George W. Bush, in Jerusalem to celebrate the anniversary of Israel's founding in 1948, accused Iran on Wednesday of using the Islamist Shi'ite Hezbollah to destabilise Lebanon. He said: "This is an Iranian effort to destabilise their young democracy."

He said the United States stood by Lebanon, a parliamentary democracy since independence from France in 1943.

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday Washington plans to speed up assistance to the Lebanese army and reported consultations were ongoing with U.N. Security Council members over how to tackle the crisis.

"At this point, it is not entirely clear what kind of action might come out of those discussions but certainly it is important for the Council to be able to speak strongly on this issue," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in Washington.

"This is something that is of great concern to many Council members and we will be working closely to see what we can come up with," he added, without giving further details.

Iran has rejected accusations from Washington that it is meddling in Lebanon and has blamed the violence on the United States and Israel. "Iran is the only country not interfering in Lebanon," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday.

ARAB MEDIATORS

Siniora earlier met a high-level Arab League mission which is trying to mediate a solution to Lebanon's standoff.

The delegation, which includes eight Arab foreign ministers, was led by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani and Arab League chief Amr Moussa.

Lebanon has been largely calm for two days and Hezbollah activists removed some roadblocks on the airport road on Wednesday to give the Arab mediators passage to the city.

In what they described as a reciprocal move, pro-government Sunni forces partially lifted their border blockade on the main road link between Beirut and Damascus.

Syria, which backs the Hezbollah-led opposition, threw its weight behind the mediation effort on Wednesday. A foreign ministry statement in Damascus urged all Lebanese parties to cooperate constructively with its proposals.

If it succeeds in easing tension, the delegation is expected to invite the rival leaders to Qatar for talks aimed at resolving their protracted political conflict.

The broader political dispute revolves around how to share power in cabinet and a new parliamentary election law.

Another political source, speaking before the talks, said the pro-government leaders wanted guarantees Hezbollah would pull out of the streets and vow not to use its guns against its foes before any dialogue.

The recent fighting raised concerns Lebanon was edging towards wider civil strife among Druze and Sunni supporters of the governing coalition and Shi'ites who back Hezbollah.

Saudi Arabia, a backer of the governing coalition, has said Hezbollah's actions, if backed by Iran, could threaten Tehran's ties with Arab states. Iran has blamed the United States for the violence in Lebanon.

(Additional reporting by Laila Bassam and Tom Perry, Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Stephen Weeks)

Update May 14th

Mobility MAP Update May 14th.
(Click on Map for further details)


* The Arab League Committee Meets with different Lebanese Leaders
* Army Troops are spread all over tripoli, and the general situation is calm
* Schools in Tripoli are still closed
* the Road to Syria through Masnaa has been partially opened by the Army
* The road to the Airport has been exceptionally opened to let the Arab League committee Pass
* Al Jazzera and different local press are saying that an agreement between Opposition and Loyalists to cancel the latest government decisions have been reached
* No signs or reports on clashes in all lebanese areas
* the General Situation still recommends caution

Arab mediators hold Lebanon talks

Source: AlJazeera.net

An Arab League delegation is mediating between opposing factions in Lebanon which have brought the country close to civil war.

Delegation members opened talks in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, on Wednesday to try to defuse tensions between Lebanon's US-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition.

"The Arab League mission opens a window for a solution," a senior Lebanese political source said.

Lebanon's Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to the opposition, called the mission the "last chance for compromise or chaos".

Hezbollah and its allies last week routed government supporters and briefly seized control of large parts of Beirut, before handing them over to the army.

The Lebanese army continued to patrol throughout the country on Wednesday with orders to use force to restore security if necessary, security officials said.

Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Beirut, reported earlier that opposition bulldozers had partially opened the road to the airport to allow the delegation through.

"There is some optimism that their visit will bring a literal end to this crisis," she said.

"A deal had been finalised and what we are waiting for now is for the government to meet today and revoke their decisions and when they do that the opposition is going to fully open the road to the airport."

Arab mediation

The Arab League delegation will be led by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, the Qatari foreign minister, and Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League.

Top of the agenda will be efforts to end anti-government protests by Hezbollah supporters and their allies that has led to the shutdown of a number of major roads in Lebanon, including the highway to the airport.

No commercial flights have been scheduled from the country's only international airport for the seventh straight day, an airport official said.

Sources said that if the delegation succeeds in easing tensions, the rival leaders will be invited to Qatar for talks aimed at resolving Lebanon's protracted political conflict.

But Alastair Crooke, director of the Conflicts Fourm think tank, told Al Jazeera there were reasons to be sceptical of how much the Arab League delegation could accomplish.

"I don't think we should expect too much from the Arab League. They were very divided in their meeting in Cairo when they decided to send a delegation," he told Al Jazeera.

"And there are deep divisions over who to hold responsible."

Street battles

A decision by the government to ban Hezbollah's private communications network and a move to fire Beirut airport's security chief, who is close to the group, sparked the violence last week, the worst in Lebanon since the 1975-90 civil war.

Six days of fighting left at least 65 people dead and around 200 people wounded.

Opposition fighters pulled back after the army reversed the government decisions.

Senior US security officials said Washington plans to intensify its pressure on Syria and Iran over their alleged support for Hezbollah's moves against the Lebanese government.

George Bush, the US president, who arrived in Israel on Wednesday, warned Iran and Syria on the eve of his trip that world powers would not allow Lebanon to fall under foreign domination and vowed to shore up the Lebanese military.

Washington also said it was expecting the UN Security Council to take action next week over the unrest.

May 13th Update

* Sanioura: "We admit that the last government decisions were taken based on a bad advice"
* Berri: "The Civil Disobdience will stop once the dialogue starts"
* Airport Road is open to let the Arab League Delegation Pass through
* Assafir Local Newspapaer: "A settlment is being drafted between the opposition and the Governement, the settlment is based on two phases, the first phase starts with the government cancelling the decisions they took concerning Chkeir and the Communication Network of the Resistance, In return the Opposition will set things back as they were before the 7th of May, the Next Phase is by starting the dialogue between conflicting parties"
* Situation in most of the country is calm and cautious


****

* The army command decided that all armed groups must withdraw starting from 6:00 Am Today
* Heavy Shooting heard around the kuwaiti Embassy
* Situation is calm and cautious in Khaldeh and Shouweifat
* Cuatious Calm in Tripoli and the cease fire is still holding on
* The Arab League Committee arrives to beirut at 9:00 pm tonight
* Heavy Shooting around beirut during Hariri's Speech on TV

Open Routes between East and West Beirut

A map of beirut showing the safe routes you can use while moving between West and East Beirut and in addition showing areas which are still presumably closed and closed, and the areas which have witnessed the recent clashes.

The open routes which are indicated on the map are the ones which we have used to get between east and west beirut, and are the ones that cab drivers use to transport people.

The best time for movement is between 8:00 AM and 3:00 PM recomended by journalists, reporters and cab drivers.

It is recommended that everyone to always hold their Identification Papers and Passports at all times.

May 12 Update

General Situation Report:

North: There has been heavy clashes in the morning and during the day between Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, between Loyalist and Opposition forces, main roads and junctions are still closed, a renewed truce and Cease-Fire starts at 6:00 pm, there is a risk that the situation might escalate in the North.

Bekaa: There has been some clashes on the Syrian Lebanese Borders at Masnaa between Loyalists and Opposition forces, the situation is still shaken.

Western Bekaa: The area has witnessed minor clashes, but the situation is calm and shaken

Saida: the Situation there is calm, there has been reports about some fighters being present in the streets, and there has been calls from many local officials and representatives to hold in the situation and preserve peace, yet the situation is still shaken.

Western Beirut: Situation have been calm till now, reports recommends to stay cautious.

Eastern Beirut: no signs of clashes, mobility is low, situation is cautious but not shaken.

Mount Lebanon: The army is till progressing through villages and towns, the army has not been able yet to control the whole area, there has been repetitive small incidents and clashes in the mountain, but the situation is generally calm and cautious, situation is still shaken.

South Lebanon: Movement around the blue line is restricted and considered to be unsafe, no reports about incidents nor clashes from south Lebanon

Road to Syria through Masnaa is still closed, road to the Airport is still closed, the Airoprt have adjurned all scheuled flights out and in the country.

The situation in general is still shaken and awaiting future steps of both parties (opposition and loyalists) there has been some reports that USS Cole is advancing to lebanese shores (Al Jazeera). The next few days will be determining on the shape of events in Lebanon.

May 11th Update

A Map of today's clashes in Mount Lebanon.

The Fights in Mount Lebanon Still continues mostly concentrated in Druze areas where there is mixed forces of opposition and loyalists.

Heavy fires, the largest since the begining of the clashes are being witnessed in various places in Mount Lebanon, the Main Political Forces in Mount Lebanon are: The Democratic Party (Ereslanis), The Tawhid Party (Weam Wahab) and the Progressive Socialist Party (Walid Junblat), Both of the Democratic Party and the Tawhid Party are with the opposition while the PSP is with the Loyalists and in governement.

A cease Fire is supposed to take place strating 6:00 pm in Mount Lebanon

***

Heavy Fighting in the North between loyalists and opposition, the fights are mainly taking place in Akkar (Halba) and between Tebeneh Area and Jabal Mohsen on the outskirts of Tripoli, The road between Beddawi and Tripoli is still blocked, and there is high tensions in Beddawi Area

A truce has been reached but there has been no confirmation if the it will hold on.

***

General Situation



Update on the Lebanon's Map on the recent Clashes

Situation Update: (7:30 PM)

North: The cease fire in the north is still holding, main roads are still blocked and mobility is still ristricted between Triploi and Akkar and between Akkar and Syria, The general situation in the north is still unresolved between opposition and loyalists.

Mount Lebanon: Army has strated to spread over most villages in Mount Lebanon, and the situation is still quite.

Beirut: Army has spread over all areas in central and western beirut, mobility is still risitricted between east and west, airport road is still closed, All Flights in beirut international airports have been suspended.

Bekaa: the situation is still calm, no clashes have been recorded, but tensions are still existing, main roads and junctions are still closed

South: Main roads connecting the South to Beirut are still witnessing blocks, but no confirmation if roads are open or not

Generally, life have to started to kick in into beirut, with a very slow pace, there are still some fears, since the political conflict has not been resolved yet and everyone is just waiting for the reply of the Governement to the recent developments. Opposition's Civil disobedience still continues and main junctions and roads are still blocked.

May 10th Update

(click on Map for Larger Version)

Roughly compiled map of the recent clashes that recently occured in Lebanon

Red dotes show the clashes across Lebanon 7-10 May 2008.

The map colour codes areas where one sect is the majority

The representation of the sects is based on 2004 electoral votes, but the map is a very rough representation of the distribution of lebanese confessions and can not been considered as exact or near-exact, the map only presents a general overview of confessions.

The Map is no indicator of political distribution between opposition and loyalists, as it is not based solely on sectarian divisions.

May 9th Update

A Map of Beirut showing where recent clashes have took place (click on map for larger version)

Clashes between opposition and loyalists spread over many places in the country, with records of fights happening in Beirut, Tripoli, Mount Lebanon and Bekaa

Many people have head to supermarkets and food stores to get supplies, as it seems that a general stay-away is in place.

Prices on some imported products have dropped a bit

Main streets and Junctions are still blocked, mobility is concentrated on a very localized level, lockdown rate is estimated to be about 80% (in beirut)

LEBANON: High prices, low wages feed violent political stand-off

Source: IRIN UN News Website


BEIRUT, 8 May 2008 (IRIN) - Ramzi Ali was nearly 13 when his parents took him out of school to work as a motorbike mechanic.

"Conditions are hard, and political tensions are destroying the country," said Ali, now 14, as he manned a barricade of burning tyres in central Beirut on 7 May. "My parents just couldn't afford to keep me at school any more."

Anti-government protesters blocked roads with burning tyres across the Lebanese capital on 7 May after Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah, and an allied Christian party, threw their weight behind a general strike called by the country's union federation to demand higher wages and decry high prices.

A pall of smoke hovered above a city of shuttered shops and empty roads, as workers either obeyed the strike call or stayed at home for fear of the sectarian violence that flares up periodically in Beirut and stokes fears of civil war.

Gunmen exchanged fire in central areas of Beirut that are mixed Sunni and Shia Muslim, and therefore divided between supporters of the Sunni Future Movement, part of the pro-Western governing coalition, and the Shia opposition Hezbollah and Amal parties.

The strike was called by labour unions after rejecting a last-minute government increase in the monthly minimum wage from US$200 to $330. Recent research by Lebanese economic consultancy InfoPro found that wages averaged $500 while the actual minimum wage was around $320, making the increase irrelevant to most workers.

Prices up

Prices of basic commodities have spiked over the past month.

Reuters video short on strike n Beirut

atch larger version of video

A grocer in Ras al-Nabeh neighbourhood of Beirut said a bottle of cooking oil had risen from $4 to $6.5, while the price of sugar had doubled. Where one dollar used to buy 1.5kg of bread, it now buys 1.1kg. Chickpeas and grains that are a staple of Lebanese diets, meat and vegetables have also risen.

According to the consumer association, prices have risen by 43 percent over the past 21 months, while the official unemployment rate stands at 10 percent. Independent estimates put it at 20 percent.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh also said last week that the inflation rate had risen by 10 percent, due to a rise in oil prices on international markets, food prices and the weakening of the dollar against other currencies.

Personal testimonies

Mahmoud, an unemployed 20-year-old at the barricade who preferred not to give his full name, said rising prices and low wages made it harder for young men to get ahead.

"At this rate, I'll never get married," he said. "You have to work several jobs at once just to make ends meet, and it's hard even to find one… Women don't want to marry a man who can't afford even to rent his own home," he said.

Both young men, who said they were Hezbollah supporters from the mainly Shia Muslim southern suburbs of Beirut, blamed the government for Lebanon's worsening living conditions.

Striking taxi drivers in southern Beirut

"Every time we protest about price rises and low wages, or the policies of this government that's on Western life-support, we're told we're stirring Sunni-Shia strife," said Mahmoud.

Because the strike was associated with the opposition, some government supporters were showing their defiance.

In a pro-government part of the eastern area of Achrafieh, Raymond Charbel, a 68-year-old father of three, defied the strike to keep his run-down dry-cleaning shop open despite the dearth of customers.

Food to feed his family had become harder to afford, he said, saying lemons - much used in Lebanese cooking - had more than doubled from about $0.75 a kilogram to $1.75. "Inflation and economic ruin is affecting everybody, so what good is closing down the roads so no one can work?" he asked.

Causes of the crisis

Rami Zurayk, professor of land and water resources at the American University of Beirut, said the crisis resulted from a combination of global commodity and oil price rises and economic mismanagement by successive governments since Lebanon's 15-year civil war ended in 1990.

Those policies had focused on sectors of the economy that directly contributed to national growth, rather than on job-creation, development and investment in such sectors as farming, he said.

"So inequality between the people of Lebanon has continued to increase over time," Zurayk said.

Gradual economic disintegration was a catalyst for the political problems and the sectarianism that plague Lebanon, he argued.

"Bad economics produces a situation in which politicians become powerful, because you have to hide behind a sect, a leader, and become a client in order to survive. In turn, the bad economic situation is hijacked by political parties in order to apply pressure."

Tensions

A stand-off on the flashpoint Corniche Al-Mazraa road between government and opposition supporters, with the army separating the two, illustrated how far Lebanon's polarised politicians are from reaching a deal to end the 18-month political crisis.

Tensions between Hezbollah and the government of Prime Minister Fouad al-Saniora escalated this week after the latter banned the guerrilla and political group's private telephone system, calling it a threat to the state.

Hezbollah said the network was part of its military defence against Israel, which it fought in a July 2006 war, and that tampering with it was collaboration and tantamount to disarming the group. Hezbollah's weapons lie at the heart of the political standoff.

The government also this week vowed to sack the security chief at Beirut international airport over allegations of aiding Hezbollah place cameras there to monitor private jets. Airport employees stopped working for six hours while opposition protesters blocked roads to the airport, leading to the cancellation or delay of 19 incoming and 13 outgoing flights.

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