Word: syrians
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...disarray that none of them sees an advantage to contesting an election at this point should Olmert be forced from the government. [And while Olmert's approval rating hovers at a lowly 25%, that is an improvement due to the government's air strike last week on an alleged Syrian military installation...
Rock and freedom--if not necessarily sex and drugs--got a boost in Lebanon in 2005, during what outsiders called the Cedar Revolution. Huge crowds gathered in central Beirut to demand an end to the Syrian occupation and the country's sectarian divisions. But the creative and intellectual frenzy that accompanied the Syrian withdrawal was cut short after the country's ruling sectarian political class co-opted the Cedar Revolution and turned Lebanon into a battlefield between regional superpowers. Spurred by last summer's war with Israel and by the current struggle between Iran and the U.S. over Lebanon...
...pilot for Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national flag carrier, said the blast tore his front door from its hinges. "What can you do? This is a war," he said, still visibly shaken. Ghanem, 64, had returned to Beirut from the Gulf only two days earlier. Like many anti-Syrian legislators, he had spent the summer months abroad out of safety concerns. Eight prominent anti-Syrian figures have been killed in a series of assassinations since February 2005 when former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri died in a massive truck bomb blast. Many Lebanese have blamed Syria for the killings...
...practical political terms, Ghanem's death has reduced to just three the slim lead held in the 128-seat Lebanese parliament by the anti-Syrian majority known as the March 14 block, which forms the backbone of the Western-supported government. Lebanese parliamentarians are expected to convene on September 25 to elect a new president. The current incumbent, Emile Lahoud, a close ally of Damascus, is due to step down on November 24. Most analysts doubt that the election will be held on Tuesday and expect the crisis to continue right until the end of Lahoud's term...
...March 14 block and the pro-Syrian opposition led by the powerful militant Shi'ite Hizballah have been at loggerheads for months over the identity of the next President. In Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, the presidency is reserved for Maronite Catholics. Several contenders have announced their candidacy, although no clear consensus has yet emerged that would satisfy both factions. The March 14 block is pushing to elect one of their own, but the opposition has threatened to form a second rival government if an acceptable candidate is not found...