Thursday, January 20, 2011

Lebanon Crisis: January 20, 2011

Yes, I feel things are in flux enough to start up a LebanonWatch series.  Maybe I'll do a TunisiaWatch too.


First of all, Yahoo! has a good article about the anti-settlement resolution that Lebanon submitted to the UN Security Council on behalf of Palestine.

Turkey and Qatar were trying to mediate the government situation, but that's over now, and their emissaries have left Lebanon.

Saad Hariri is currently the caretaker prime minster and has said he intends to lead a new cabinet.  This appears to be a major sticking point for Hizbollah, who is not happy.  Hizbollah has been discrediting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).  See the BBC's Q&A on the STL.

Both sides of parliament are blaming the other for corruption and misspent funds.

Some countries are getting worried and have issued travel alerts for people visiting Lebanon.  Apparently the Lebanese are also worried, because they're converting their money to dollars.  And the Lebanese Army has started deploying around government buildings.

I read an article last week about how the Lebanese situation was being blown out of proportion, and that everything was fine (will try to find the link).  I completely disagree.  I still think there's a chance that everything will calm down, but it's slowly ramping up to a bad place.

edit: Changed name to "Lebanon Crisis."  ["Watch" implies a long-term situation.]

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