Lebanon: Visit by US Secretary of State - full text
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Immediate Context
Rice's visit to Beirut (the capital) was the first high-level US official visit to Lebanon after the signing of the Doha power-sharing agreement. Talks opened in Doha (the capital of Qatar) on May 17 and on May 21 Lebanon's political factions reached an agreement to resolve the political crisis over the election of a new president, which had threatened to return Lebanon to state of civil war.
The agreement handed new powers to the already influential Shia Hezbollah movement, including meeting their demand for veto power in a government of national unity. The agreement also mandated changes in election laws that would potentially increase Hezbollah's share of the vote in southern Beirut.
The dispute over the Shabaa Farms had been an issue of contention between Hezbollah and the Western-backed Lebanese government, led by outgoing Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. During his time in office, Siniora sought a diplomatic solution whereby the Shabaa Farms would come under UN control pending a final border agreement between Lebanon and Syria. However, Hezbollah claimed the continued occupation of the Shabaa region as a defining element of its hostility towards Israel.
Israeli forces had withdrawn from Lebanon in May 2000, but in July 2006 Hezbollah fought a devastating 34-day war with Israel following the killing of three Israeli soldiers and the capture of two others by Hezbollah guerrillas. A ceasefire was brokered by the UN in August 2006 and the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1701 in which the option was raised of placing the Shabaa Farms under UN control.
However, it was widely speculated that Hezbollah used the Israeli occupation of Shabaa as a pretext for continuing to arm itself, in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004), which called for the disarming of all Lebanese militias.
On June 18, the New York Times reported that the Israeli authorities had offered to start direct peace talks with Lebanon, at which all issues would be negotiable including control of the Shabaa Farms region.
Reaction and Outlook
The Financial Times reported on June 16 that Rice commented to reporters after meeting outgoing Prime Minister Siniora that "the United States believes that the time has come to deal with the Shabaa Farms issue ... in accordance with 1701". Rice added that the administration of US President George W. Bush was planning to urge UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to "lend his good offices" to end the sovereignty dispute.
Prior to the Doha agreement, US officials had urged the Lebanese government not to make concessions to Hezbollah and its allies in the opposition. The concessions to Hezbollah in the Doha agreement has been perceived as a set back for US-Middle East relations. Rice commented to reporters on June 16, that the Doha accord "was an agreement that I think served the interests of the Lebanese people. And since it serves the interests of the Lebanese people, it serves the interests of the United States." However, Rice also reiterated that the USA had long ago listed Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, and that nothing had changed in this regard.
However, the election of Suleiman had been observed as possibly heralding an era of improved political stability and international relations for Lebanon. The degree of international support for Suleiman was reflected in the number of foreign dignitaries who visited Lebanon upon his appointment, including the foreign ministers of Iran and Syria, who backed Hezbollah and the opposition, and their counterpart from Saudi Arabia, who strongly supported the outgoing, Western-backed Lebanese government.
However, whilst the Doha agreement resulted in a basic power-sharing formula, the two main political camps were unable to agree on appointments for several key ministries including defence, finance, foreign, and interior.
Historical Context
The earliest known settlements in Lebanon date back to earlier than 5000 BC, and during different periods of its history, Lebanon was ruled by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Armenians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Ottomans, and French.In 1918 Arab troops led by Emir Faysal and backed by UK forces captured Damascus (the capital of Syria) and a Kingdom of Greater Syria (including what would become Lebanon) was declared in 1919. The short-lived kingdom was divided in 1920 by the San Remo conference, which allocated Syria and Lebanon to France. France occupied Syria and declared the two countries to be Greater Lebanon in August 1920. Both Syria and Lebanon were occupied by the Axis Powers and after the fall of France, Lebanon was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940. Lebanon declared independence in 1941 and achieved full independence in 1944.
In 1975 civil war between Christians, Muslims, and Palestinians broke out in Lebanon and in 1976 Syrian troops entered Lebanon to attempt to restore peace. Israel invaded southern Lebanon in 1982, forcing the Syrian military to retreat. Despite a peace agreement between Lebanon and Israel in 1983, Syrian forces remained in Lebanon and were deployed in Beirut in 1987 in a peacekeeping role.
In 2004 the UN called for a complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon. Following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri in February 2005, the Republican administration of US President Bush severed diplomatic relations with Syria as Syrian officials had been accused of involvement in the assassination. Syria faced huge international pressure to withdraw, and, following massive anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon, removed its troops.
Suspicions of Syrian involvement in the killing of al-Hariri persisted and in October 2005 suspicions were re-iterated by a UN report. The same month, Syria's interior minister and former head of intelligence in Lebanon, Ghazi Kanaan, was found dead. The authorities declared that Kanaan had committed suicide.
On July 12, 2006, in response to an attack by Hezbollah guerrillas, Israeli forces invaded Lebanon, launching a war that lasted for 34 days. Israeli troops were withdrawn in October 2006. Mass anti-government protests were held in Beirut, on Dec. 1, 2006, organised by the country’s two main Shi’ite factions, Hezbollah and Amal, calling for the resignation of the government of Siniora. Hezbollah and Amal (predominantly Shi’ite groups) had withdrawn from the Sunni-led Siniora government in November 2006.
After President Emile Lahoud's term of office ended in November 2007, Lebanon was left without a head of state for the first time since the end of the civil war in 1990. After 19 failed attempts to convene the National Assembly (the unicameral legislature) to vote on a new president, a neutral candidate, Suleiman, was elected president on May 25, 2008, receiving a total of 118 votes in the 127-member legislature.
