LEBANON:A SERIES of security incidents in Lebanon is undermining the optimism that greeted a peace deal between warring factions, signed in Doha just three weeks ago.
The incidents have persisted almost daily since then, despite a heavy deployment of the army and security services.
Security agreements between the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and the opposition led by the Hizbullah movement, which fought each other briefly in May, have not taken hold.
Some of the worst skirmishes are taking place in the eastern Bekaa Valley, between the pro-government Sunni Future movement and the Shia Hizbullah. But a recent incident between rival Christian parties north of Beirut signals wider political unrest. Attacks have also increased in and around Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps, a suspected haven for fundamentalists and extremists.
The clashes may be partly fuelled by lingering resentment over the fighting just one month ago, when Hizbullah overran pro-government Sunni areas of Beirut. But most suspect the violence is politically motivated, with both sides manoeuvring to influence the formation of a new government and to position themselves ahead of general elections next year.
Hizbullah and its supporters accuse the government of trying to undo the peace deal in Doha, which was supported by regional and international powers.
That accord ended an 18-month political stand-off by giving the opposition much of what it wanted in the wake of its show of force.
"The government is looking for an excuse not to carry out its side of the bargain and is using the security incidents for that," said Amin Hoteit, a former general and pro-opposition security analyst.
The Doha agreement provided for the appointment of army commander Michel Suleiman as president last month after the opposition had blocked the presidential succession since October last year. The opposition also ended its 18-month protest that had paralysed downtown Beirut.
In return, the anti-Syrian bloc that holds a majority in parliament agreed to give Hizbullah and its allies veto power in a new government of national unity and it agreed to a revision of the electoral law. - (Financial Times service)