Leading article: A tool of foreign ambitions

After more than 30 years of civil war, invasion and conflict, you might have thought that the poor people of Lebanon deserved a period of peace and reconstruction. It is apparently not to be. First came the Israeli invasion of 2006 and now comes the sudden falter of violence between Shia and pro-government forces over the weekend.

True the first flares appeared to have died down by yesterday, at least in Beirut. But there were ominous signs of the fighting spreading as Druze and Hizbollah engaged in running battles in the mountains north of Tripoli. And, while both sides seem to have accepted the imposition of the army, at least in the main parts, there are few who believe that this is anything other than a moments pause in a conflict for power which is very far from being resolved. Indeed there remain many who fear that the underlying quarrel for pre-eminence among the different religious groups cannot be resolved without an out-and-out conflict in which one side or the other emerges as victor.

It can only be hoped that this is not so, or rather it need not be. That the various factions are intent on pursuing their aims by whatever means possible should not be doubted. The Shia forces of Hizbollah, newly triumphant from their battles with the Israeli invaders, demand a greater say in government than the old constitution allows. The Christian and Druze-backed government insist that Hizbollah be disarmed before it can be integrated into civil society. And overhanging it all is the still unresolved issue of the assassination of Rafik Hariri and Syria's responsibility for it.

But then that is the problem of Lebanon, as so much of the Middle East. Its fate is to be the constant tool of the ambitions of others. Hizbollah has the backing of Iran, which sees its rise as a means of furthering its own interests in the region, and Syria, which views Hizbollah as a means of maintaining its influence in the Lebanon. The government has the support of the US together with Israel, which view the defeat of Hizbollah as a way of combating Iran's influence, and Saudi Arabia, which sees Lebanon as a front line in the fight between Shia and Sunni. Even the Arab League is tainted by the commitment of the Saudis and Egyptians to one side rather than the other.

Lebanon will never achieve peace until outsiders stop meddling in it for their own purposes and until the factions within the country achieve their own accommodation. If the latest outbreak serves to concentrate minds for fear of total civil war, it will have served a purpose. If it proves to be just a forerunner of violence ahead, then the Lebanese have indeed cause to despair.

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