Lebanon: “staring into the abyss of another possible war”

Mohamad Bazzi, Council on Foreign Relations fellow on the ground in Beirut, held a media conference call to discuss the events this week in Lebanon. He said that on Saturday Hezbollah was accused of spying on the Lebanese state with a camera on a Beirut airport runway, and also of using a private communication network to communicate with each other through their own infrastructure. He said that on Monday night the Lebanese government held a meeting, and condemned what Hezbollah had done. He said Hezbollah and other opposition parties used a strike planned by labor unions on Wednesday as a vehicle to express their displeasure with the government’s decisions.

Since then, Bazzi said, some of the roads in Beirut have been closed and fights have been breaking out in cities and neighborhoods. He said hundreds of Hezbollah fighters were deployed into different neighborhoods today, and even took over some political and media offices, but then then turned them back over to the Lebanese army. He said this allowed Hezbollah to show how quickly they can control Beirut, and to display their military and tactical advantages. He said the Lebanese army did not intervene in the fighting, because the army leadership believes it needs to be worked out politically. However, he said the Lebanese army maintains a visible presence on the streets.

Bazzi said that Hezbollah had made clear that any attempt to interfere with their communication network would be “dealt with.” He also said some believe the Lebanese government is worried about the end of the Bush administration, and that Hezbollah and others may believe “this entire maneuver was cooked up by the U.S.” He said he feels Lebanon is “staring into the abyss of another possible war”