Billboards illustrate Lebanon's political crisis
Nov 22, 2006 - 3:12:51 PM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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The tribunal has been the focus of a political crisis that led six Shia ministers to resign on Nov 11 after Prime Minister Siniora went ahead with a cabinet meeting to adopt the UN draft on the court.
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By DPA,
[RxPG] Beirut, Nov 22 (DPA) New posters across Beirut illustrate the political crisis and deep divisions gripping Lebanon.
0ne large poster showing former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri reads: 'We will not forget.' The politician was killed in a huge bomb blast Feb 14, 2005 with 20 other people.
Just a few metres away, a large poster of Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah reads: 'With your steadfastness, we achieved victory.'
The streets of Beirut are covered with the posters decorated in all kinds of colours and slogans.
At this time of year, Beirut's streets are usually dotted with Christmas decorations. But this year, posters and slogans for anti- and pro-Syria groups, calling for demonstrations in support of or in opposition to the present government, have replaced them.
Since Hariri's assassination, the country has been plunged into a deep crisis and is currently divided in two camps.
The Hezbollah and its allied Amal movement head the pro-Syrians while Rafik Hariri's son Saad leads the anti-Syria majority.
Driving across the city, one can see a narrow street, which has been almost divided in half. The buildings on the left have large posters of the late Hariri and the buildings on the right have pictures of Nasrallah and his ally, Shia house speaker, Nabih Berri.
Lebanon's rival political parties are locked in a crisis over the formation of a new government with the pro-Syrian minority groups seeking more power.
The crisis broke out after the failure last week of roundtable talks between the two camps to resolve the situation. Nasrallah gave the majority government the option of forming a national unity government and holding early elections or taking to the streets to achieve their demands.
The streets of Beirut were fast in replying. On a balcony in a Muslim Sunni neighbourhood, a large picture of incumbent anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, showed him smiling, and reads: 'He is staying ... he is staying.'
On a building in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah hotbed, large posters read: 'This government is finished.'
After the Hariri bombing, Lebanon was hit by 15 blasts that targeted anti-Syrian political figures and journalists.
According to the anti-Syrian majority, the core of Lebanon's political crisis today is setting up an international court to try suspects in the Hariri murder.
The tribunal has been the focus of a political crisis that led six Shia ministers to resign on Nov 11 after Prime Minister Siniora went ahead with a cabinet meeting to adopt the UN draft on the court.
A UN probe into the murder, still under way, has implicated senior officials from Syria, which for decades was the power broker in Lebanon. Damascus has vehemently denied any connection with the killing.
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