On 13 April 1975 Phalangist gunmen ambushed a busload of Palestinians in Beirut. The incident marked the beginning of a bloody civil war which lasted 15 long years and claimed the lives of 150,000. Since 1990, the Lebanese have been trying to simultaneously come to terms with the legacy of war and to forget. Ironically it was Rafiq Al-Hariri -- whose assassination last February threatened to revive the ghosts of the past -- who had planned to mark the occasion with a series of festivities celebrating Lebanese national unity. This week, Al-Hariri's sister, Bahia, inaugurated the celebrations which her brother had planned. But will Lebanon truly heed the lessons of the war? Serene Assir, in Beirut, seeks answers from some of Lebanon's most prominent past and present players on the political arena Nader Naquib, president of the Future Youth Association -- the youth branch of Rafiq Al-Hariri's political movement -- is considered by many of Al-Hariri's supporters as the most charismatic leader to have emerged from their ranks since the assassination of the former prime minister, and he has been very present in the Lebanese media. The movement which calls itself the Future, which has been up until recently mostly composed of middle-class Sunnis, was inaugurated by Al-Hariri, who refused throughout his career to set up a political party. This interview with Naquib was conducted in Arabic in Martyrs' Square, downtown Beirut on 11 April 2005. How do you describe your movement and what is your role within it? I am the president of the Future Youth Association and one of the founding members of the movement, incepted in 1994 in response to tax increase. Then, the war had only recently ended, and when university students joined strikes, I and a few others at the American University of Beirut decided that we had had enough of responding to private, sectarian demands, and that there needed to be an association speaking in our name. There was no one to turn to at that point but Al-Hariri, whose politics sought the implementation of long-term plans that would seek the improvement of the lot of all the Lebanese. Gradually, the association spread from one university to other universities, and today, we can say that it is our movement that led the 2005 Intifada for Independence. Our aim is to empower youth politically and economically, and to endow Lebanese politics with greater levels of transparency and democracy, thus safeguarding human rights and the economic well-being of the country. Do you agree that the Future movement speaks more for Sunnis than it does for other Lebanese? After the assassination of Al-Hariri, a new inter-sectarian balance has been born. It is true that before 14 February 2005, most of our supporters were Sunnis. But now, people from all sects and all ideologies have realised that the last thing we need is another such assassination or act of violence. We have to be, at this point, extremely careful with where we tread, make sure that we do not feed sectarianism and that we retain this new-found balance. Although there has been much inter- sectarian cooperation over Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon, is there not a danger that all of this will collapse once the aim is indeed secured? In the end, there are political leaders in this country, people who head institutions and whose obligation it is to continue running the state according to principles of tolerance and co-existence. Young people in Lebanon are now playing an extremely important role in keeping the heat on politicians across the board to work for the country's interest as a whole, not for their own personal gains or for those of their own sect. The most important thing about the role of youth in Lebanon today is that the minds of young people are clean and unpolluted by corruption and selfishness. So it is really in their hands to bring about true change and to keep the momentum going. Today, sitting in this square, I found myself discussing the political situation with a supporter of Michel Aoun alongside a member of the Progressive Socialist Party. But, unity on that front notwithstanding, how do you propose to maintain unity with pro-government forces following the Syrian pullout? There isn't actually much to divide us from the pro-government forces. In fact, in terms of Lebanon's day-to-day political life, discussions continue. The main instrument, however, for national unity is the holding of elections. Elections will reflect Lebanese consensus, regardless of who wins and who loses. Also, you need to bear in mind that despite difference over the issue of Syria's pullout, nobody in Lebanon can afford political tension. The situation will not get out of hand because we have all experienced much harder times, and we all know that explosions lead to drop in tourism -- which in turn affects us -- and that fighting leads to the collapse of our society. No one wants that any more. No one wants to see Lebanon destroyed again. Do you think the Future movement should cross the line and establish a political party? I personally hope to start working on the creation of a party that can represent our movement on the national political level. It would include many sects, and we would continue to work hard on transforming Lebanese politics, replacing the old sect- based system with an ideology-based one. It won't be easy, but we all have to work to eliminate sectarianism. What else would the programme of that new party include? The main policy goal would be the promotion of democracy and modernisation. All in all, we would pursue Al-Hariri's policy goals, and reject outside intervention in Lebanon. We would also work towards strengthening our country's economy, so that our youth do not see themselves forced to migrate in search of working opportunities. Ours is a movement that says Lebanon should be able to live without the burden of sectarian division.
