Lebanon — a nation divided

Richard Engel Chief foreign correspondent • Profile

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hundreds of thousands of protesters from Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies demonstrated on the streets of Beirut on Friday hoping to shift the balance of power away from the existing pro-American government.

The protests were the latest demonstration of the decisive rift splitting Lebanese society over the political future of the country. The police estimated the crowds to have been about 800,000 people, while Hezbollah claimed that there were more than 1 million – both estimates being close to a quarter of Lebanon’s population of 3.8 million. 

NBC News’ Richard Engel reports from Beirut on what the latest protests mean for the Lebanese government’s shaky hold on power.

What was the goal of Friday’s protest in Beirut?
The goal is very simple: Hezbollah and its supporters want more power. 

They saw that this current government staged mass demonstrations after the assassination of Rafik Hariri under the flag of “we want change, we want the Syrians out,” and through those demonstrations managed to come into power.

Now Hezbollah is adopting the same tactics. It’s just that the represent the other camp — the anti-American camp, the pro-Syrian camp — and are trying to force a change in government through popular street demonstrations. It is also a fallout of the war this summer. The country is still divided over that war.

The government and the army opposed the war with Israel and didn’t take part in it — the army was only sent to southern Lebanon after the fighting was over. So Hezbollah believes that it won a great victory over Israel with the war — both militarily and politically and is now using some of that popular capital among its own supporters to try to gain more strength in the government.

What are Hezbollah’s specific demands?
Hezbollah and its coalition — there is a major Christian party aligned with them — want to have one-third of the government, plus one. That would give them veto power over all major government decisions.

Right now Hezbollah is popular on the streets, they are popular in charities, social institutions, trade syndicates, and in parliament, but they do not have as much sway in the actual Cabinet. They want more power in the Cabinet — they want veto power over the Cabinet. And they believe that after what they perceive to be a major success last summer, that they have the popularity to do it. And they certainly have the organization.

This has been a very well-organized protest. Hezbollah organizers were out with walkie-talkies and wearing special caps — making sure that the crowds stayed in order. Tents have been set up, and they brought in portable toilets and water tanks for the protesters. Hezbollah even distributed gasoline coupons so that their supporters in southern Lebanon could drive to the capital of Beirut. And the protest succeeded — the city is now in a stand-still.

Meantime, the pro-American Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is effectively a prisoner in his office. Troops have surrounded the prime minister’s palatial office in downtown Beirut. He is inside, surrounded by a ring of barbed wire and armored personnel carriers, and there are serious questions here as to how long this can last.

Now, Friday evening, there is still a small core group of protesters — nothing like the large group that was here during the day. But a small core group is still in the streets. They say they will spend the night and expect more people to join them tomorrow.

The government so far is saying that this is a coup attempt by a radicalized minority and that they will resist it. The government says they will continue to go on with their work, but they are hoping for dialogue.

It will become clearer this weekend how serious this situation becomes. If Hezbollah manages to effectively shut down the city like they did today for days and days, then the government will be in a difficult position and there may have to be some sort of political compromise. But it is still early, and everyone expects that this is going to take several weeks to play itself out.

MORE FROM MIDEAST & N. AFRICA

Mideast & N. Africa Section Front

Iran cracks down on online opposition Brothers who fled Yemen can stay in U.S. Federal case threatens mosques Palestinians urge cancellation of election Diplomats question role of Iran nuke plant US: Iraq needs to do more to help refugees return Mideast & N. Africa Section Front   Add Mideast & N. Africa headlines to your news reader: