Extremist groups push back on secular licence

Beirut:Intellectually and artistically, Beirut has long been freer than other places in the Mideast; some now fear that is under threat as never before. With the rise of the Shiite Islamists of Hezbollah, Lebanon’s Sunnis - traditionally moderate - have been increasingly challenged by extremists, from Salafist mullahs in Sidon to Al Qaida in the northern city of Tripoli.

All of them have been pushing back against secular license.

After its civil war ended in 1990, Lebanon never did regain its role as the economic powerhouse of the Middle East and as a natural bridge between East and West. That did not help matters either - prosperity has always encouraged greater freedom. Then Lebanon’s economic collapse last year was set off by the new government’s refusal to cooperate with the UN special tribunal investigating the role of Syria and Hezbollah in Hariri’s assassination, after it indicted Hezbollah officials.

The uprising in Syria next door worsened investor confidence even further. For many businesses and even cultural institutions, places like Doha in Qatar and Dubai in the UAE just seemed like a better bet.

Western museums and universities opened branches in the Gulf states, not in the city once called the Paris of the Arab world.

NYT