The Party of Allah signals its intention to go from a state-within-a-state, which Beirut has failed to resist, to just being the state.
The drills are "a rehearsal for what might happen if Hezbollah is accused of involvement in the bombing that killed Hariri's father and 22 others in 2005," and preliminary indications have been that the indictment could be quite damning, all the way up the chain of command to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. "Hezbollah stages coup drills in Beirut as indictments loom, newspapers say" from CNN, January 19:
Militants fanned out across Beirut and reportedly staged coup drills as political unrest continued to percolate in the country, Lebanese and Israeli media outlets reported.
Operatives from Hezbollah and Amal, both Shiite groups, gathered in groups of up to 30 at a dozen strategic points in the Lebanese capital Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post said. Included were sea ports, the airport and entries to the city, the newspaper reported.
Though Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, a member of Hezbollah's political bureau, told The Post he wasn't aware of any such drills, parents pulled their children from school after seeing people dressed in black and carrying hand-held radios.
A mother of three picking up her children in the Hamra area of the capital said the school contacted her "because the security situation is not good," The Daily Star in Beirut reported.
One gathering was about 400 yards from the Grand Serall, downtown Beirut's government seat, forcing security officials to close the roads to the building, The Post said. The men were unarmed and no trouble was reported, according to various media.
Sources told The Daily Star that the men appeared well-organized and were seen in west Beirut, downtown and in the southern suburb of Hadath.
The drill came as Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan sat down for talks with Lebanese politicians, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, aimed at heading off sectarian strife in the country, The Daily Star reported.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is also involved in the talks, and he met with Lebanese Army Gen. Jean Kahwaji to discuss a potential role for the Syrian army in achieving security and stability in Lebanon, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said.
An earlier joint mediation effort by Syria and Saudi Arabia fell apart this week, and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told al-Arabiya that his nation abandoned its efforts because the situation was dangerous.
"If the situation reaches full separation and (regional) partition, this means the end of Lebanon as a state that has this model of peaceful cohabitation between religions and ethnicities," al-Faisal told the station.
A coalition led by caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri viewed the drills as a rehearsal for what might happen if Hezbollah is accused of involvement in the bombing that killed Hariri's father and 22 others in 2005, according to The Daily Star.
The Party of Allah signals its intention to go from a state-within-a-state, which Beirut has failed to resist, to just being the state.
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Yes—this has been brewing for a log time.
More:
The drills are "a rehearsal for what might happen if Hezbollah is accused of involvement in the bombing that killed Hariri's father and 22 others in 2005"
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Pretext. It is an open secret that Hizb'allah and Syria—and, hence, Iran—were behind these killings.
As Hizb'allah sees it, they win either way. Either Lebanon offers them a pretext for a violent coup, or they cave yet again—on a *very* public issue, and weaken themselves—which will just set them up for a coup just a little way down the road.
Hezbollah rules Lebanon depite what some may say...Life in Lebanon has continued to slide into the abyss ever since the Muslims began calling the shots....just as it has in every other Muslim ruled/dominated country or territory.....
Islam, the religion governed by the gun and sword...just as it has always been...complete disregard for human life and happiness...
I don't know what possesed the christian lebenese to accept these pal snakes into their country after these arabs were kicked out of Jordan by fellow muslim arabs.
Ever since then we have seen the Paris of the East turn into an islamic snakepit where most western tourists now won't go.
Once the "Paris" of the Middle East and now turning into your typical Islamic rathole.