Syrian-Lebanese Dance of Chaos Continues

Lebanese Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri has again postponed an important Presidential Election session. A parliamentary session scheduled for today in order to elect a new Lebanese President was cancelled and has now been re-scheduled for noon on April 22d. This is the 17th such cancellation.

Parliament has so far been unable to elect a replacement for pro-Syrian head of state, President Emile Lahoud. His term ended in November, and Lebanon has been without a president for over three months.

The latest delay may have been induced by reports that Syria recently moved three Army Divisions close to the Lebanese border.

Meanwhile, the United States has deployed three warships, including the destroyer USS Cole, to Lebanese and Syrian coastal waters. The U.S. says the ships will remain there until after a successful Lebanese Presidential Election takes place.

Damascus obviously wants a pro-Syrian President but right now Damascus doesn’t want the distraction of an election. Syria is focused on hosting an Arab Summit this week. This was to be a political plum for Syria. But it is back-firing, as Egypt and Saudi Arabia have announced that they are sending low-level diplomats to the meeting in retaliation for Syrian obstruction of the Lebanese Presidential election. Other Arab states are likely to do the same. Many Arab nations are bent on isolating Syria who has increasingly been improving its relations with Iran.

Saudi Arabia, long an important player in Lebanon and Syria, announced yesterday that neither King Abdullah nor Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal would attend the summit. Riyadh's ambassador to the Arab League, Ahmad Qattan, said he would head his country's delegation.

To add to the tension, Monday was the end of the 40 day mourning period of the death of arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh. He was killed in Damascus in a February bombing. Syria’s Hezbollah allies held bellicose demonstrations and gave speeches saying they would avenge his death. They accuse Israel of having assassinated Mughniyeh. These threats and Syrian troop movements have made Israeli officials concerned.

Thus the stage is set for another failed Arab Summit and a protracted period of political impasse in Lebanon.

Two Assassinations, a Summit, and Syria

A funeral took place in Beirut today for the few charred remains of the ruthless terrorist, Imad Mugniyah, of Hizballah, who was killed yesterday in a car bomb in Damascus. It took place on the third anniversary of the yet unresolved assassination of Rafiq Harriri, Lebanon’s the Prime Minister. Both murders remain unsolved although there is ample speculation as to who is responsible for both events.

Yesterday, a bomb shattered the normally peaceful Syrian Kafr Soussa neighborhood. The blast and plume of dark smoke could be seen and heard at the America Embassy. But so far no one has walked in there to claim the $5 million dollar reward offered by the USA for Mugniyeh’s arrest. Since assassination is forbidden by US law, it is not a suspect, despite more than ample justification for wanting to see Mugniyeh dead.

The main suspects are listed by most MidEast pundits as Israel (a natual and automatic suspect), Lebanese anti-Syrian forces, and Syria itself. Ironically, Syria is suspected of killing Mugniyeh to eliminate an embarrassing link to terrorism and thus win some appreciation from those who think Syria was behind the Harriri killing. The timing would suggest someone in Lebanon trying to embarrass Syria over Harriri and the blocking of Presidential elections.

The Arab League’s Chief Amr Mousa has been trying to resolve the political impasse between Syria and Lebanon for some months without the slightest iota of success. Meanwhile, bombings in Lebanon have targeted anti-Syrian and American personalities.

Bombings of any kind are rare in Syria. This latest one follows close on the heels of an Israeli bombing attack on a yet to be explained facility in the desert. That attack and now a bombing in a populated area under score Syria’s shady dealings with the likes of Hizballah, Iran and North Korea. Mugniyeh was also known to be in contact with al Qaeda in Iraq.

Syria has been very mute in its response. Hizballah has threatened war and retaliation on Israel. Given the damage done to Hizballah and Lebanese infrastructure in the last war with Israel, there won’t be much enthusiasm for that by any but a few.

Two unresolved assassinations, political turmoil, and risk of war. These are just some of the subjects to be confronted by the 2008 Arab Summit in Damascus next month. Hopefully, the wise leaders among the Arabs will look at the region’s chaos and question the value of allowing terrorists to remain in their midst and will vote to free their societies of the blight of terror and assassination.

December 11th

On December 11th 1960 there was a huge snow storm in New York City. It threatened to delay the opening of a new Broadway play called Wildcat, starring Lucile Ball.

Across the Atlantic, French President Charles de Gaulle had just arrived in Algeria, which was then a French colony. He did not receive a warm welcome because France then was locked in a vicious struggle with the Algerians for political and economic control. More than a decade after World War II had opened the possibility of independence to North African nations, the French were as resistant as ever to the idea. Thus de Gaulle was "welcomed" by huge pro-independence demonstrations that turned into riots that were then crushed by French police and army units. Scores died and hundreds were wounded on a day that most Algerians see as the real beginning of the finale struggle for independence.

This year on the 11th of December, al Qaeda in North Africa filled two trucks with hundreds of pounds of explosives and set them off in the heart of Algiers. One bomb struck the UN headquarters and the other the Algerian Constitutional Council building located on the 11th of December 1960 Boulevard. A total of 67 died and more than another 150 were wounded.

Al Qaeda likes the 11th for bloody attacks. They have conducted not only the 9/11 attacks in America but other attacks in several countries on the 11th. For example, the Madrid train bombings took place on March 11th. An earlier double bombing on April 11th of this year killed 33 people in Algiers.

This latest attack on the 11th may be a message to Algerian officials not to cooperate with the French. (French resident Sarkozy visited just a couple of days earlier.) Or it may be in retaliation for the recent arrest of a top al Qadea in North Africa leader, Bouderbala Fateh, just last month. Or it may be a response to al Qadea leader Ayman Zawahiri’s call in September of this year to ‘cleanse North Africa of the children of France and Spain.’

In any case, the 11th of December will continue to be known as a bloody day of ideological struggle in Algeria.