Row on Syrian presence causes sectarian splits

By Pascal Mallet

BEIRUT (AFP): The row over Syria's presence in Lebanon seems to have caused sectarian splits after Christian calls for a Syrian pullout prompted Shiite Muslims to rally in favor of Damascus.

But opinions differed Thursday over the seriousness of such a split, with pro-Syrians attempting to dramatize Christian-Muslim cleavages and anti-Syrians claiming a manipulation of religious sentiments for political ends.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of the Syrian- backed Shiite radical movement Hezbollah, had criticized calls, mainly voiced by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, for the pullout of the 35,000 Syrian troops deployed in Lebanon.

"We say with all clarity that on the basis of national and not sectarian considerations, we need Syria today even more than in the past," Nasrallah told about 200,000 people gathered Thursday for the Shiite day of mourning Ashura.

"Let those who call for (a Syrian retreat) do so in their name. We others, as the majority political current, have another view and another vision," he said.

The same day, other Shiite leaders had denounced the timing of the debate over the Syrian presence, following Monday's similar warning by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who also heads the pro- Syrian Shiite Amal movement.

The Sharia Higher Council, the supreme Sunni Muslim authority, had also joined the chorus by "warning against the danger of inciting sectarian hatred in an indirect manner ... mainly by calling for the pullout of Syrian troops from Lebanon and by slogans hostile to Syria and its people."

An editorial by the As Safir newspaper, considered closed to Syrian officials, said Thursday that there was "an extremely strong division ... with totally opposed political speeches" hiding "the true sectarian split."

As Safir owner Talal Salman said in the editorial that "behind the slogans for independence and sovereignty, the Christians are trying to regain the privileges that they have lost" since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

But others refused to dramatize the controversy as a religious conflict and said Syria was simply attempting to muffle debate through its Lebanese allies.

"Syria would be annoyed to hear about a consensus among the Lebanese on the implementation of the Taef accord and on Lebanon's sovereignty," Farid al-Khazen, chairman of the political science department at the American University of Beirut, told AFP.

The Taef accord, the 1989 agreement which put an end to Lebanon's 15-year civil strife, stipulates a redeployment of Syrian troops two years after the formation of a national reconciliation government.

"Any debate in Lebanon could have a sectarian dimension, but in this case, I do not think that there is such a split," said Khazen.

"To the contrary, there is a consensus over having good relations with Syria, but within the respect of Lebanon's sovereignty," he said.

Maronite bishops seemed to agree with Khazen.

"The artificial sectarian mood hinting that the Lebanese are divided, and that they are demanding diametrically opposed things, does not reflect the true situation of the country," the bishops said in a statement on Wednesday.

The bishops, representing the country's largest Christian community, considered that if there were any divisions among the Lebanese "then it would be even more necessary to engage in a frank dialog."

Gibran Tueini, editor in chief of the leading An Nahar newspaper, even warned that "those who play with sectarian fire ... will burn their fingers."

Influential Druze leader MP Walid Jumblatt, who has previously called for "more balanced" relations with Syria, noted the necessity of "dialog ... to reach a compromise between the patriarch's positions and those of others."