Pity the nation when deadlock takes over

On December 1, the Lebanese opposition celebrated the first anniversary of its futile protest outside the government house, underlining the political deadlock which by the end of 2007 remained an obstacle to electing a new president and securing stability.

Lebanon in 2006 was on the verge of civil strife as the opposition, led by the powerful Shiitemovement Hezbollah and its ally Christian leader Michel Aoun, sought to unseat Sunni Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government, leading to unprecedented sectarian tension.

The United Nations reported in November the arming trend among the former militias that fought the disastrous 1975-1990 civil war.

The deadlock, which began when the opposition began its sit-in outside the Siniora office in central Beirut, also led to the disagreement between the opposition and the Western-backed ruling majority, led by the son of slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri, Sa'ad Hariri, on a new president to replace President Emile Lahoud who left office after his term ended on November 23.

Seven attempts to convene the parliament to elect the president failed. The two rival camps failed to agree on any of the six nominees named by the Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Sfeir under a French-sponsored deal.

One week after Lahoud left office, Army Chief General Michel Sulaiman emerged as a consensus candidate to fill the vacant presidential palace.

Sulaiman, 59, has led the army for 10 years and is known for his strong ties to former powerbroker Syria, its strong Lebanese ally Hezbollah and also the majority controlling the government.

He was also widely praised as the people's hero for leading the successful army campaign against the terrorist group Fatah Al Islam, which was entrenched in Nahr Al Bared Palestinian refugee camp.

The campaign began after members of the group, said to affiliate with Al Qaida, attacked an army post killing 18 soldiers after it was confronted by the security forces investigating an armed bank robbery.

The army then besieged the camp where more than 35,000 people lived. As the battle intensified, all residents fled the camp and the army began an all-out offensive. It declared “national victory'' five months later and General Sulaiman was declared the hero who quashed the threat of terrorism.

The general, poised to form a new government as soon as he moves into the Baabda Presidential Palace, has a big task ahead in 2008 to restore the shattered security and bridge the gap between the feuding parties.

For the Lebanese who had not recovered from the destruction of the previous Israeli war, 2007 was yet another year filled with blood and tears as two MPs, allied with the ruling majority, were assassinated by car bombings that killed at least six other MPs and politicians in the past three years including Hariri, whose murder triggered the current crisis and the withdrawal of Syrian forces in April 2005 after 30 years of domination.

In October, just before lawmakers were to meet for the first time to choose the new president, anti-Syrian MP Antoine Ganem was killed in a blast that ripped through his car. Ganem, 64, returned from a long trip to Abu Dhabi two days earlier.

The international community condemned the attack as a blatant bid to destabilise Lebanon ahead of the presidential election. The majority leader MP Sa'ad Hariri blamed the assassination on the “cowardly regime'' of Syria.

Druze leader MP Walid Junblatt also accused Damascus. Three months earlier, another prominent lawmaker, MP Walid Eido was killed in a similar blast. The car bomb explosion on June 14 claimed his life along with that of his eldest son Khalid and eight other people.

Syria was also blamed for his murder. But the truth would have to wait until the start of the international tribunal's proceedings, formed in 2007, to try those responsible for the assassination of Lebanese politicians since 2005. The trials should begin this year.