Analysts are trying to envisage a post-Al-Hariri Lebanon but it's not easy, writes Rasha Saad The repercussions of Rafiq Al-Hariri's assassination continue to unfold. Attempting to predict Lebanon's future, the newspapers showed their concern about a period of instability in Lebanon. The Lebanese opposition's reaction to the killing and calls for Syria to pull out of Lebanon were all extensively tackled. Abdel-Wahab Badrakhan wrote in the Saudi- funded London-based Al-Hayat that the many meetings the opposition held among themselves at Le Bristol Hotel following the assassination of Al- Hariri proved the death will not frighten the opposition nor prevent it from raising its voice and playing an effective role in the country. "The opposition has proved, perhaps for the first time, that there is real opposition joined together by one goal, but facing a mutual threat." Focussing on the Syrian presence in Lebanon, Badrakhan urged Syria to prepare for a departure day and to do so quickly, to oblige the Lebanese to take over the responsibilities of their country. "The issue now is about independence," Badrakhan wrote. "We are sorry to use expressions that were monopolised by George W Bush, however, we really mean them -- unlike Bush and his obsessed assistants. Yes it is the issue of freedom and democracy, and a country that at last wants to escape from the shadow of war and concentrate on development and its future concerns after it paid much in blood." Also in Al-Hayat, Mohamed Al-Ashab warned against conducting international investigations in Al-Hariri's assassination, arguing the Lebanese themselves should handle the issue. "There are almost no examples of security or judiciary investigations that do not comply with the country's internal laws," Al-Ashab wrote, reminding readers that the Americans investigated the 9/11 attacks without outside help. The Israelis did the same in the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, and the Egyptians in the assassination of president Anwar El-Sadat. "Among the paradoxes is for Lebanon to be incapable of finding the truth in the assassination of an official as important as Al-Hariri at a time when it is aiming for liberation from any guardianship and wanting to enjoy complete sovereignty in its choices and relationships." The challenge in exposing the truth, according to Al-Ashab, depends on the ability of Lebanese factions to transform what is at present covert arguments into a national dialogue. Also in Al-Hayat, Selim Nassar wrote that ironically enough CNN was broadcasting a commercial urging tourists to rediscover Lebanon when an anchor interrupted regular broadcasting with breaking news from Lebanon where there had been a huge explosion that ripped through Al-Hariri's convoy in Beirut. Interpreting the reasons behind the opposition's demand to conduct an international investigation into Al-Hariri's death, Nassar said he believed the Lebanese opposition, led by Walid Jumblatt, was sceptical as to why government apparatchiks had failed to discover the identity of those who had assassinated past political, religious and media figures in Lebanon. He said many observers believed Al- Hariri's assassination to be a terrorist attack, and as a result, the international community should participate in any investigation. Writing in the Lebanese An-Nahar, Samir Khalaf dubbed the assassination as "the Lebanese 11 September." In his article, Khalaf saw it ironic that Al- Hariri "died in the heart of the same city which he rehabilitated and resurrected from under the rubble of war". Khalaf lamented, "savage assassinations conducted in cold blood" have become a feature of our political culture. He said it was saddening that such killings and assassination attempts in Lebanon usually pass without knowing who the culprits are and without punishment. However, while the identity of the culprits remains unknown, or undisclosed, the timing and targets of the plots, according to Khalaf, are by no means a coincidence. "These acts usually take place when there are indications that the Lebanese community is mending rifts or when disputing factions start drawing closer." Statements by Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah following Al-Hariri's assassination urging the Lebanese opposition to be rational and to adopt a dialogue drew mixed reaction. Ahmed Amourabi, in the UAE newspaper Al-Bayan , called on Lebanese opposition leaders to listen to what he described as Nasrallah's "voice of wisdom and firmness". According to Amourabi the opposition leaders have, since the first minute after Al-Hariri's death, pushed to provoke the Lebanese people, and called for the internationalisation of the Lebanese crisis as a means to realise their hidden agenda which is to oust the government and embarrass Syria. Amourabi warned that such a policy of provocation "will easily lead to civil war in a country that has a long history of bloody conspiracies". In "A dialogue in a house without a ceiling", Editor-in-Chief of An-Nahar Ghassan Tweini wrote that Nasrallah's calls of wisdom and dialogue would have been valid in a context other than the assassination of Al-Hariri. On Nasrallah's warning that if the ceiling collapsed it will collapse on everybody, he admitted it was true "but where is this ceiling in the first place?" According to Tweini, Lebanon became "a house without a ceiling" ever since it became "an open courtyard for Israel with no one to defend its territories". Tweini also put down arguments that Syria was the source of protection for Lebanon and that the withdrawal of Syrian troops would result in disastrous consequences. "The Syrian troops and their intelligence, which count how many times we breathe, were present in Lebanon but were unable to prevent the assassination or protect themselves from the grave consequences of such a crisis." Lebanese writer Hazem Saghieh put Hizbullah under fire. In Al-Hayat Saghieh wrote that Al- Hariri's legacy has, in its own way, embodied love of life by seeking financial prosperity, to be accompanied by security, stability and regional peace as well as forming a bridge between Lebanon and the region. On the other hand, he claims, Hizbullah embodies the love of death. In this context, Saghieh charged the party with engaging in terrorism in Iraq, and referred to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's fears about certain actions the party might undertake to foil Palestinian-Israeli peace attempts. Consequently, Saghieh explains, it was not a coincidence for Al-Hariri to clash with the party whether concerning differences on sending the army to the South or regarding issues of reconstruction. In these political disputes as well as others, he added, Hizbullah has often played a specific role in Syrian policy for it is on the frontlines when it comes to so-called strategic issues.
