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Lebanon Accord Offers a Respite
Lebanese rally in Beirut's Marytrs' Square to celebrate the deal between the ruling U.S.-backed coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition. Hezbollah, which had seized West Beirut in fierce fighting, won a cabinet veto.
(By Grace Kassab -- Associated Press)
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"If they didn't agree, we were headed for destruction," said Nour Shamaa, the owner of a downtown boutique. "We may have made compromises and we may have lost something, but it's better than losing everything and Lebanon losing everything."
Soon after the deal was announced, in the center of Beirut, workers began removing the detritus of the sit-in: worn mattresses, small butane stoves and cheap Syrian-made heaters.
In Tariq Jdeideh, an ardently Sunni area, many residents cast the agreement as their leaders had in Doha: a necessary deal to save Lebanon from more bloodshed.
"If someone says they won, they are mindless," said Ali Hussein, a 46-year-old mechanic. "You won? How did you win? Tell me. They killed us, we killed them. They're still here, and we're still here."
Hezbollah's opponents had cast its deployment of fighters in Beirut as a coup d'etat. But many analysts believed that the group, despite its position as the most powerful single force in the country, is reluctant to seize actual power, risking as it would international isolation. Rather, it was intent on securing its weapons and ensuring its veto power in any government, to curb what it sees as growing U.S. influence in the country. As the negotiations wore on, even its insistence on veto power became secondary to the law that would organize parliamentary elections in the summer of 2009.
"It's like giving us 1,000 boxes of Panadol when we don't have a headache," said Ali Hamdan, a spokesman for Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker and a Hezbollah ally.
In the talks over that law, Hezbollah and its allies won their demand for smaller constituencies that may bolster their number of seats, which are divided along sectarian lines among Lebanon's 18 religious communities. But they conceded a division of Beirut that will probably help Saad Hariri and his allies. In effect, the law means that the leaders gathered in Doha will likely preserve their power in the next parliament.
After the deal was signed, Berri kissed his rival, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Mohammed Raad, a senior Hezbollah official, embraced Hariri, whose men had battled Hezbollah fighters this month in the worst internal violence since the 15-year civil war ended in 1990. "In the end, these guys need each other. They will always go back and agree. It doesn't matter how many people they kill, how many livelihoods they destroy, or the cost to the country," said Makdisi, the professor. "But it doesn't do anything to change the essence of the conflict itself or the flaws of the political system."
Ibrahim reported from Doha.
