Lebanon remembers Hariri

Yet, like the mass rallies of last year, the participants were mainly Christians, Sunni Muslims, and Druze. Other than formal delegations, Lebanon's Shiites, the largest of the country's sects, were absent, underlining Lebanon's deep political and sectarian divisions.

The US is urging the Lebanese government to disarm the powerful Shiite Hizbullah organization in compliance with UN Resolution 1559. However, Hizbullah and its allies represent a third of the government, and the party refuses to disarm. The political dispute is paralyzing the government's ability to tackle the moribund economy and improve the fraught security climate.

Sensing the government's weakness, Syria's former allies are gaining confidence and mobilizing their supporters. "There's a new order in Lebanon that is getting ready to change the situation," says Wiam Wahhab, a staunch pro- Syrian former minister.

The political turmoil is aggravated by a heightened sectarianism that is further complicated by the emergence of a militant Islamist trend that has taken hold in the poorer Sunni regions of north Lebanon. "The political differences have assumed very sharp cultural dimensions which is very disturbing," says Samir Khalaf, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut.

Last month, Lebanese authorities arrested 13 members of an Islamist cell, the latest evidence, the government says, of Al Qaeda-style militancy establishing a foothold in Lebanon.

Earlier this month, thousands of mainly Sunni demonstrators, including Islamist militants and pro-Syrian activists, rampaged through a Christian quarter of Beirut when a protest against the publication in Europe of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad turned into a sectarian riot.

The Lebanese government accuses Syria of seeking to destabilize Lebanon by inciting this kind of violence. Of the rioters arrested, almost half were Syrians or Palestinians.

Damascus is also blamed for a sporadic campaign of bombings and assassinations that has forced some prominent critics of Syria to stay overseas.

Many Lebanese say the tensions will continue until a UN investigation into Hariri's death is concluded and the culprits are known. But the commission has warned that it could take months, maybe years, before the identity of the killers is finally revealed.

• Feb. 14, 2005: Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is assassinated in Beirut with 22 others

• Feb. 16: About 200,000 Lebanese protest Syria at Hariri's funeral

• March 8: Hizbullah organizes a large "pro-Syrian" march in Beirut

• March 14: About 1 million Lebanese rally to call for Syrian withdrawal

• April 26: The last Syrian troops leave Lebanon ending a 29-year military presence

• Oct. 20: UN investigators say high-ranking Syrian officials were involved in Hariri's killing

Sources: United Nations, AP

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