Region | Lebanon
Strike ahead of donors' meeting
Lebanon's crisis may deepen if a general strike called by the opposition for today paralyses the country two days before a crucial donors meeting in Paris.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:00 January 23, 2007
Lebanon's crisis may deepen if a general strike called by the opposition for today paralyses the country two days before a crucial donors meeting in Paris.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government is backed by a loose coalition of the mainly Sunni Future Movement led by Sa'ad Al Hariri, son of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; the Christian Lebanese Forces and Phalangist parties; and the Druze Progressive Socialist Party.
Hezbollah is the largest group in the opposition alliance that brings it together with the fellow-Shiite Amal movement; Christian leader Michel Aoun; and an array of small pro-Syrian Lebanese parties.
Each side has outside allies. The United States, France and Saudi Arabia are the government's firmest backers. Hezbollah is supported by neighbouring Syria and Shiite Iran.
The underlying issues
- The government is determined to push through creation of a UN-backed international tribunal to try suspects in former prime minister Rafik Hariri's killing.
The opposition says it accepts the principle of such a court, but wants to ensure that the government or its foreign allies cannot use it as a political weapon against Syria or Hezbollah.
- Hezbollah, which showed military prowess in the July-August war with Israel, wants to keep its weapons for use against the Jewish state. Its adversaries favour Hezbollah's eventual disarmament or integration into the army.
--The opposition, which says the government lost its legitimacy when all the Shiite ministers resigned, skewing the sectarian balance in Lebanon's power-sharing system, now demands early parliamentary elections and a new electoral law.
There is no consensus on electoral reform or on who will replace pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term expires this year.
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