Region | Lebanon
'It's the Lebanese miracle'
Beirut in a festive mood on the eve of long delayed presidential election.
- AP
- Published: 00:11 May 25, 2008
- Image Credit: Reuters
- A Lebanese soldier secures the parliament building in Beirut city centre. Lebanon's parliament is due to convene today to elect army Commander General Michel Sulaiman as president.
Beirut: On the eve of its long delayed presidential election, Beirut was in a festive mood as Lebanese were cautiously jubilant that their country has stepped back from the brink of all-out civil war.
Downtown was buzzing with life again with restaurants, shops and sidewalk cafes reopening for the first time in a year and a half.
The upscale downtown had been turned into a virtual ghost town by a Hezbollah-led sit-in for the past 17 months.
On Friday, though, it was like the political deadlock, which just last week degenerated into bloodshed, had never happened, and the air was filled with the smell of Lebanon's trademark delicious cuisine and the fragrant smoke of water pipes. The restaurants and sidewalk cafes were once again packed as people came to celebrate the revival the district's revival.
"It's the Lebanese miracle," said Elie Karam, 70, a Christian hospital owner, as he sipped his strawberry juice with a retired army general, both looking relaxed and happy. Around them families strolled down the graceful boulevards of the rebuilt 1920s French Mandate-era architecture.
"Lebanon is like a phoenix who always rises from the ashes of war," he added.
The government and opposition sealed an Arab-mediated agreement on Wednesday that ended a standoff that had paralysed the government. The factions agreed to form a national unity government and today the parliament will elect a new president - six months after the old one stepped down.
"I am hoping for the best," said Ebrahim Sabbagh, a 66-year-old retired general who marvelled at the speed with which life was returning to normal just days after the streets shook with gunfire and rocket blasts.
Nearby Margaret Gerges, an attractive 23-year-old in a revealing dress, daintily puffed on her water pipe as she played cards with friends. "This is Lebanon, the land of surprises," she said with a smile. "Lebanon will never die. I am strongly optimistic that the Doha agreement will pave the way for a final solution to the political crisis." Already it appears that the economy, battered by violence and uncertainty, is on the upswing. The stock market is up and, according to tourism officials, 750,000 Lebanese expatriates have booked their summer vacations in Lebanon.
Preparing to return
"Hundreds of Arab and foreign investors are preparing to return with their money to Lebanon after they were searching for a secure place," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said in a statement after chairing his Cabinet's last meeting on Friday night.
Sunday's election by parliament of army commander Gen Michel Sulaiman as president, it is hoped, will add further momentum to normalcy and he has pledged to strengthen 'reconciliation and understanding' among rival factions.
"Lebanon is a country that deserves much from us. The Lebanese are a people who enjoy life. They have always proved that they are stronger than crises and pitfalls to which they have been subjected and for which they have paid blood, tears and sacrifices,' An Nahar newspaper quoted Sulaiman as saying yesterday.
"We have a big challenge ahead of us," he added. That challenge has been especially felt by the restaurateurs in downtown. "The [opposition's] sit-in has forced some 40 restaurants to close temporarily and pushed 30 others out of business," Paul Ariss, president of the restaurant owners' association, said.
So far, though, 40 of the 104 downtown restaurants have reopened, and he is confident that the number would double in the next few days. Ariss said he was happy now that the downtown district was getting back to normal but had a few words to Lebanese leaders: "Solve your political differences to help the country recover. The Lebanese want to live in peace and prosperity."
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