Word: beirutization
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...Grand Serail, an Ottoman-era palace that houses Lebanon's government, began its life as a garrison for Turkish soldiers. The buff limestone building was restored after this country's long civil war, and it still looms over downtown Beirut like a hilltop fortress, with its arabesque arches punctuating the fa?ade like so many cannon slits...
...Hizballah is currently seeking to topple the U.S.-backed government of Fouad Siniora in Beirut, which signed off on the U.N. resolution requiring that the movement disarm. The Iran-backed militia plainly has no intention of giving up its weapons, and Israeli intelligence sources fear that it could be emboldened to begin openly resuming military activities in the south, which raises the prospect of a new Israeli offensive. Some fear Hizballah might even deliberately provoke another bruising round by kidnapping a few more Israeli soldiers - though Hizballah chief Haassan Nasrallah admitted he was stunned by the Israeli onslaught last summer...
...Hizballah officials in Beirut say the movement has no intention of starting a new brawl with Israel. They say a new war would most likely be sparked by Israel launching a preemptive strike against Hizballah defenses, or by targeting its leaders. Nasrallah is still in hiding to avoid a possible Israeli attack, although Israel's willingness to kill him seems lately to have dimmed, according to Western diplomats in Beirut...
...Meanwhile, to replace the hundreds of fighters fallen in the last conflict, Hizballah is recruiting eager new volunteers; the best of them are heading to Iran for further war training, according to Israeli sources and Western diplomats in Beirut. Hizballah leaders are also trying to figure out how to do a better job of hiding their long-range missiles; nearly all of their last supply was destroyed by Israeli aircraft in the opening days...
...irony, of course, is that Israel set out to destroy Hizballah last summer and ended up making its leader, Nasrallah, only stronger. In Beirut, Lebanese politicians fret that it's only because Hizballah came out of the war with Israel relatively unscathed that Nasrallah is attempting his current power play of bringing down the Siniora government. Given the current tumult in the Middle East, the outcome of a second fight to the finish for Israel could prove even more unpredictable - and possibly disastrous...