Word: druze
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...Much of Beirut was on lockdown Friday, a scene all too familiar in recent months, with schools and universities closed and hundreds of riot police and soldiers in armored vehicles stationed on street corners. In the Sunni neighborhood of Qasqas, hundreds of Sunni and Druze mourners converged on the Kashikji mosque for the funeral of the two victims...
Arab commentators who praise Nasrallah as a hero for fighting Israel have been slow, not surprisingly, to commend Siniora's stand for freedom. But he has won the hearts of many Lebanese and enjoys broad support among Sunnis, Druze, Christians and some Shi'ites. When he sneaks from the Sérail for a rare meal outside, surprised restaurant patrons drown his arrival in applause. "He is a source of pride," says Elie Khoury, a leading pro-democracy activist who created the "I Love Life" advertising campaign to perk up Lebanese spirits. "We have a Prime Minister...
...assassination of Hariri. The international tribunal [to investigate the assassination] is one of the basic objectives of this government. Why? Because following the assassination of Hariri, there have been other assassinations. This follows assassinations during the past 30 years, leaders of thought, editors, politicians, clergymen, the grand mufti, the Druze mufti. That's why one should insist on the international tribunal. Not only to get to know who committed these crimes, but as well to protect democracy in this country. It is not a vendetta. It is a duty to the Lebanese people...
...nightmare scenario is that Hizballah's show of strength could provoke a backlash against its mostly Shi'ite supporters by Lebanon's Sunni Muslim, Christian and Druze communities. If that happens, most Lebanese believe the situation could quickly escalate into all-out civil war. As a river of pro-Hizballah demonstrators flowed toward Siniora's besieged compound last week, poultry seller Ahmad Sahd, 65, wept. "These youngsters didn't live through the civil war. I did. And it looks like it's starting again...
...Siniora supporters see the national unity government call as a pretext for a Hizballah power-grab. "The Taif Accord [which brokered an end to Lebanon's civil war] divides power among religious groups, regardless of demographic changes," said Rami Rayess, a spokesman for the Progressive Socialist Party, the leading Druze faction of Siniora's coalition. According to Rayess, Shi'ite parties, who represent the fastest growing part of Lebanon's population, want to flex their muscles after what they see as Hizballah's "Divine Victory" over Israel this summer. "We have the fear that national unity is a cover...