Lebanon's US-backed government took aim at Hizbullah this week, leading to fears of further strife, Lucy Fielder reports from Beirut Tensions bubbled over again in Lebanon this week after Druze leader Walid Jumblatt alleged that the opposition Shia group Hizbullah was spying on a runway used by private jets at Beirut International Airport and accused the guerrillas of being linked to a string of assassinations of anti-Syrian figures and security personnel over the past three years. In response, for the first time since the Taif agreement of 1989 that ended Lebanon's civil war and enshrined the legitimacy of Hizbullah's armed resistance to Israel, the government condemned the telephone network which is part of the group's security apparatus as an illegal "threat to the state". With what many observers saw as corresponding belligerence, Hizbullah warned that anyone who tried to tamper with its parallel telephone network, which is part of its military apparatus, would be considered tantamount to a collaborator with Israel. The Free Patriotic Movement led by Michel Aoun, Hizbullah's main Christian ally, called the government ban a "declaration of war" on Hizbullah, a week after the US State Department renewed its "terrorist" designation of the group. Furthermore, after a mammoth session that continued until just before dawn, Fouad Al-Siniora's pro-Western government decided to try to remove the head of airport security, General WafiqShoucair,from his position. Shoucair was known to have good relations with Hizbullah and Amal, which many analysts say were necessary given the location of the airport in Beirut's mainly Shia southern suburbs. "In Lebanon, removing senior officials is always sensitive, and I'm afraid if this dismissal goes ahead it could lead to more tension," security analyst Timur Goksel said. "Hizbullah likes to know who's coming in, and they're worried about foreign agents. All the groups have somebody there watching who's coming and going, but having a top ally at the airport is definitely important to Hizbullah." Head of the Shia Supreme Islamic Council AbdulamirQabalan threw his support behind Shoucair. "This has now become a sectarian issue," said Beirut-based Hizbullah expert Amal Saad-Ghorayeb. "This is the first time the government's taken such a provocative step. What they basically want to do is get the Americans in control of the airport, because they want a foothold in nearby Dahiyeh [the mainly Shia southern suburbs]." Saad-Ghorayeb said it could be part of a US-backed plan to mobilise the Shia and try to drag Hizbullah into civil war. Fear of internal strife plagues the guerrilla group, since being embroiled in civil fighting would undermine its pan-Arab appeal and the broader, to some extent cross-sectarian support it has as long as its weapons are trained solely at Israel. Goksel said the ban on Hizbullah's telephone network, to which anti-Syrian politicians have alluded before, would be hard to enforce. "It's perfectly within the government's right to say it -- they have the monopoly on communications in the country -- but implementing it is something else, it would definitely cause friction," said Goksel, who lectures at the American University of Beirut and is a former spokesman for the UNIFIL border force. Hizbullah has been working since the July 2006 war with Israel to improve its communications system, he said. "They know that in the next war the Israelis can immobilise the Lebanese communications system in minutes, and then what do you do?" The developments appeared to raise the spectre of civil strife in the country that has had no president since November and has been polarised between pro- and anti-Western camps since the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri three years ago. A general strike was called for 7 May by the Trade Union Federation. Aoun called on his followers to support the strike, raising the prospect that it could be widespread, deeply politicised and a flashpoint for violence. A general strike in January 2007 descended into sectarian street fights between government and opposition supporters. Although Jumblatt, along with many other domestic and international figures, has frequently charged that Hizbullah is building a "state within a state" and raised the issue of the telephone network, not only were the airport allegations new but the assassination charges were considered an escalation. "Accusing Hizbullah of being linked to the assassinations is extremely sensitive, especially to the Sunnis," Saad-Ghorayeb said. The Hariri family is Sunni, and the anti-Syrian Future Movement led by Saad Al-Hariri is closely associated with the sect. Jumblatt accused Hizbullah of setting up cameras to monitor runway 17, used by private jets, "to monitor the arrival of Lebanese or foreign leaders and to kidnap or assassinate on the airport road". He added: "I am disclosing this information about Hizbullah before people march in my funeral or that of parliamentary majority leader Saad Al-Hariri." Saad-Ghorayeb said Hizbullah's response was less restrained than usual, further illustrating how precarious the situation was. "Hizbullah has become more vocal in defending itself than it has been in the past, it has gone on the offensive and said this is a weapon of the resistance and anyone who tries to tamper with our phone lines is trying to disarm us," she said. Jumblatt also stepped up allegations of Iranian meddling in Lebanon, calling for the ambassador's expulsion and the stopping of flights to and from Iran, alleging that they ferry weapons to Hizbullah. Al-Manar, Hizbullah's satellite channel, reported an assassination attempt on one of its cadres in the southern suburbs in late April, typically quoting Israeli media but not confirming the news. Quoting Israel's Channel 10, Al-Manar said the attack was thwarted by Hizbullah's tapping of a telephone call, and asked whether Jumblatt's allegations aimed to cover up the attempt. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa was back in Beirut trying to reconcile the two sides this week, but he appeared to have no new impetus to give his Arab initiative and was expected to leave empty-handed. In the absence of any concrete measures, and with the two sides more polarised than ever, a parliamentary session to elect a president, scheduled for 13 May, is likely to be postponed for an 18th time.Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri's call for dialogue has so far gone unheeded, despite occasional encouraging noises, including, in the past, from Jumblatt. "It's all just time-stalling," Saad-Ghorayeb said. "It's clear they've reached a dead end and that 14 March will not allow a national unity government," a key demand of the opposition. "It's even clearer that the opposition will not accept less than a third of cabinet seats." Observers expect nothing to change on the political scene in Lebanon for some time, probably until next year's parliamentary elections, barring a military escalation in Lebanon or the region that would reshuffle the cards. Hizbullah's expected retaliation to the assassination of its military commander Imad Mughniyah, which it blames on Israel, is one potential catalyst that remains hard to predict.
