Lebanon Again Caught in Syria's Net

Lebanon, the country on Syria's border that more than any other is enmeshrd in Syria power politics, felt the full force of Bashar al-Assad's murderous determination to remain in power or leave the Middle East in flames. A powerful car bomb exploded yesterday in the Christian section of Beirut, killing eight people including the country's intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan. Lebanon's prime minister and the country's top Sunni cleric condemned the assassination, called the attack a "criminal explosion that targets Lebanon and its people..." and asked for self-restraint, saying "the criminal will get his punishment sooner or later." But many Lebanese were overwhelmed with anger, marching, setting up roadblocks and burning tires all over the country. The AP reported that dozens of people who marched in protest in the border town of Moqueibleh came under fire from the Syrian side of the border, forcing them to disperse. The prime minister said Saturday that the bomb attack is linked to al-Hassan's recent investigation, in which he exposed an alleged plot by Syria to unleash a campaign of bombings and assassinations to create chaos in Lebanon. Lebanon's fractious politics are closely entwined with Syria's. The countries share a web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, and Lebanon is now trapped in the fallout from the civil war between Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces and rebels seeking to overthrow the regime. This latest violence, attempting to pit pro-Assad shiites against pro-rebel sunnis, could easily plunge Lebanon back into a dark cycle of bombings and murders that made the country notorious during the 1975-90 civil war. Many of Lebanon's sunni Muslims have backed Syria's mainly sunni rebels, while shiite Muslims have tended to back Assad. Al-Hassan was a sunni who was widely seen to oppose Syria and shiite Hezbollah, the country's most powerful ally in Lebanon, which with its coalition is the majority group in the Lebanon Cabinet. Lebanon has endured civil instability and sectatian fighting in the years since 1975 and only recently achieved a certain stability by granting Hezbolleh an important place in the government in exchange for civil peace. It would be a cruel twist of fate for the Lebanese people if, after bowing to Hezbolleh demands for power-sharing, al-Assad manages to destabilize Lebanon again. It would not only raise the specter of a new Lebanon civil war that could pull in Israel and other neighboring countries, but also deprive al-Assad of his most important ally in the country -- further proof that al-Assad and his regime will even destroy their own allies in their psychotic effort to remain in power.