Lebanon's PM Rafik al-Hariri faces crisis over Syrian role

By Samia Nakhoul

BEIRUT (Reuters): Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri returned to office in Lebanon this month intending to concentrate on pulling the economy out of deep recession.

Instead, he found himself immersed in a crisis over Syria's military presence in Lebanon.

Politicians have denounced the effect of Syria's presence on Lebanese political and economic life, turning what was to have been a one-day formality to confirm Hariri in office into a debate lasting five days, the longest vote of confidence since Lebanon's independence in 1943.

The row was broadcast live on television as Lebanese watched mesmerized by an unprecedented attack on Syria's political and economic dominance.

It was no surprise that Christian deputies -- long opposed to Syria's influence -- blasted Damascus.

But it was a shock when Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a longtime ally of Damascus, called for a review of Lebanese-Syrian ties, including a partial redeployment of 35,000 Syrian troops.

Syrian forces first entered Lebanon as peacekeepers in 1976, a year after the civil war broke out, and have stayed on ever since.

Analysts said the debate, marking the first direct parliamentary attack on Damascus since the civil war began, had taken the issue of Syria's presence past the point of no return.

"Jumblatt has turned the call of the Maronite patriarch from being a Christian one to a national demand. We are really witnessing a new period, a new turn. The wall of fear is broken," one independent politician said."

"The political map is beginning to change very quickly," he said, adding that the Christian-Druze axis, historically the basis of Lebanese independence but broken during the 1975-1990 civil war, was now re-emerging.

Syria cracked the whip by declaring Jumblatt persona non grata and barring him from entering Syria as an official.

Analysts said Syria felt betrayed that a redeployment call should have come from a traditional ally like Jumblatt, whose Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) fielded the mightiest of the Muslim militias in Lebanon's savage civil war.

The ban on Jumblatt and his aides was a reminder that Damascus, even under the more liberal leadership of Bashar al- Assad, does not tolerate any questioning of its military presence, especially from its closest allies.

Syria's move was backed by an intimidation campaign in which Assem Kanso, a Shi'ite deputy and Vice President of the Lebanese Branch of Syria's ruling Baath Party, denounced Jumblatt as an Israeli agent. Hariri kept silent on the Jumblatt ban.

But Patriarch Sfeir, Lebanon's highest Christian religious leader, and the council of bishops immediately denounced the move and called on the government to "take a clear stand" against what they called a "violent and intimidating" reaction on the part of Syria.

Jumblatt had criticized Hariri's pledge to maintain close ties with Syria. The prime minister had made no reference to the Taif peace accord which stipulated a Syrian army redeployment by 1992 as a prelude to an eventual withdrawal.

The Taif accord, which ended the 1975-1990 civil war, stripped the Maronite Christians, once the dominant community, of most privileges and brought Beirut under Syrian control through binding treaties. Since then, Damascus has vetted presidents and governments to the chagrin of many Lebanese.

Sfeir said last week: "We want the Syrian army out and we don't object to an honorable exit. We want Syria to respect Lebanon as Lebanon respects Syria. But Syria's appointment of every official in Lebanon is unbearable. Our government should not be a Syria lackey."

Pressure against Syria's military presence mounted after Israel ended its 22-year-long occupation of south Lebanon in May. Many Lebanese now see no justification for Syria's army to stay, and analysts say the death of feared Syrian President Hafez al- Assad earlier this year was another catalyst behind the campaign, because it lessened fears of retribution.

"It is like a dam has broken after Assad's death. Would all these people stand in parliament and blast Syria if Assad was alive?," one Western analyst commented.

The other spur, the analysts said, was discontent among Lebanese who seek a review of trade and agricultural accords between Lebanon and Syria to make them more equitable.

Critics of Syria in Lebanon have long complained that hundreds of thousands of low-wage Syrian workers are undercutting Lebanese labour and that Lebanese markets are being flooded with cheaper Syrian farm produce.

"The Syrians must realize that they are in danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg," the Western analyst added, referring to Syria's financial dependence on Lebanon.

In the first reaction from the Sunni Muslim community, Syria's traditional allies in Lebanon, former prime minister Omar Karami called for a national Muslim-Christian dialogue to discuss Syria's presence.

"What has been said on this issue reflects, whether we like it or not, the views of a large portion of Lebanese; we should not hide behind our fingers because we're witnessing a dangerous period," he said.

In parliament, Greek Orthodox MP Albert Mukhaiber asked Hariri's government to terminate Syria's tutelage.

"I want this parliament to record my words as an historic document. I am afraid that Lebanon will turn against Syria as the Palestinians are doing against Israel," he said. "I call on the government to bring about a Syrian evacuation."