LEBANON: Not taking the road to Damascus

Lebanon's political life is on hold these days. And all eyes are now focused on the annual summit of Arab leaders at the end of this week in Damascus. The meeting is expected to extensively discuss the Lebanese conundrum.

But hopes are already low that a miraculous solution will come out of these Arab talks. Late Tuesday night, the Lebanese government decided to boycott the Arab Summit.

Following a Cabinet meeting, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said:

Because of the hindering of the election of a President ... and because of the injustice suffered by Lebanon in its relations with Syria ... Lebanon decided not to participate in the Arab Summit in Damascus nor the preliminary meetings before the summit. It's an unfortunate precedent that was forced on us, and Lebanon takes this step for the first time in the history of Arab summits....

And that's not all. Neither the Saudi prince nor the Egyptian president will attend the summit. Their absence lowers any real expectations that anything substantive could emerge from the meeting.

It's not a secret that the Lebanese presidential crisis is at the heart of political disputes between Arab States. Saudis and Egyptians along with the west are blaming Syria and Iran for the Lebanese stalemate.

Lebanon has been without a president since last November. And again on Monday, Speaker Nabih Berri postponed, for the 17th time, a parliamentary vote for a new president, this time until April 22.

The situation feels like a game of tug-of-war. On one side, a government backed by Saudi Arabia and the West and on the other, an opposition supported by Syria and Iran, are each trying -- unsuccessfully, so far --  to pull the rope of power to their side.

And on the street, fears are rising that a prolonged vacuum in the presidency might erupt into violence. Meanwhile, a broad malaise has swept Lebanon, with many ordinary Lebanese making plans to leave. What will happen if the various regional powers pulling the strings in Lebanon do not reach a common vision for the tiny country?

Despite the tensions, recent declarations by local political leaders have suggested that Lebanon will not descend into chaos after the Arab summit.

In a televised interview on Saturday, Berri, who is a main opposition figure, said that he would call for national dialog among all feuding leaders in case Arab mediations fail.

On Sunday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said -- in one of his most low-key speeches lately -- that the opposition would not go into an internal conflict:

The opposition is keen on reaching a compromise…. We will not abandon our country. We will not leave it to the Americans. The doors will be open to all political initiatives and efforts after the summit.

— Raed Rafei in Beirut

Photo: Hezbollah supporters hold up a portrait of the secretary-general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, during a rally held in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday to mark the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imad Mughniyeh, a top Hezbollah commander killed in a car bombing in Damascus last month. Credit: EPA/WAEL HAMZEH