Hezb'allah Takes Control in Lebanon

By Walid Phares

After few days of discussions in Doha, Qatar, the Lebanese Government of Fuad Seniora collapsed under pressures by the Hezbollah led opposition. An agreement, fully in favor of Hezbollah was signed by the various Lebanese politicians

It gives Hezbollah's coalition the following:

1) 11 seats in the Cabinet and a veto power over final decisions

2) It keeps Hezbollah's weapons intact despite a UNSCR 1559 that called for disarming the militia

3) It will give Hezbollah significant influence over foreign policy

It will give Syria the following:

1) A capacity of using its allies in the new Lebanese Government to delay the process of the Hariri Tribunal.

2) A growing ally inside Lebanon

According to the agreement, a new President is to be elected next Sunday, General Michel Sleiman. Appointed as Commander of the Army during the Syrian occupation in 1998, Sleiman was criticized for allowing Hezbollah to be supplied by Iran and for not containing Hezbollah when it invaded Beirut last week.

Politically the once pro-US Lebanese Government of Seniora will be disbanded next week and the March 14 movement which claimed the Cedars Revolution may experience set back. The Seniora Government has been blamed by critics for not going to the UN and calling for Western support. Instead it chose to accept an Arab mediation, leading to a Hezbollah win.

But many sources have also criticized the Bush Administration for not showing support to the Lebanese Government when it was attacked by Hezbollah. The President, they say asked the Lebanese to resist Hezbollah but didn't help them to do so.

Observers believe this agreement is an expression of a defeat in the War on Terror against the Iranian-Syrian axis in the region.