Lebanon's new PM is not Hezbollah and not Iran
Incoming Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati has the support of Saudi Arabia, Syria and France, so the United States will have a hard time opposing him.
By Zvi Bar'elThe incoming Lebanese prime minister, Najib Mikati, is not a representative of Hezbollah and certainly not of Iran. He is a close personal friend of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and even Saudi Arabia - the patron of the outgoing prime minister - hasn't spoken out against Mikati, a 55-year-old Sunni native of Tripoli.
France also proposed Mikati for the premiership, after it became clear that the compromise prime minister suggested by Saudi Arabia and Syria had been rejected. If Mikati has the support of Saudi Arabia, Syria and France, the United States will have a hard time opposing him.
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Najib Mikati. |
| Photo by: Reuters |
Mikati served in the government of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in which he was responsible for public service and transportation, and was asked to briefly serve as interim prime minister following Hariri's assassination in 2005. Associates of Saad Hariri, the outgoing prime minister and Rafik Hariri's son, can also be expected to make their own political calculations and decide - perhaps with some Syrian and Saudi pressure - to join Mikati's government so as not to lose all their centers of power in the country.
He will have to be everyone's prime minister, a job description Mikati should not find too difficult. With a fortune estimated at $2.5 billion, Mikati showed his ability to identify business opportunities when he invested in African countries, created (with his brother ) the massive communications company Investcom - during the height of the Lebanese civil war, when he was just 27 - and later sold it to a South African investor.
Other business ventures of Mikati's include opening a chain of luxury goods, which has its own elite fashion line; founding the Geneva-based Baboo Airline; and establishing a family foundation that helps Middle Eastern students who want to study at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago.
There is virtually no large business in Lebanon that Mikati, a former chairman of the Lebanese trade bureau, does not have some connection with. And at the same time, he has managed to maintain the good name of a clean politician.
Mikati, who studied at the American University of Beirut, the international business school INSEAD and Harvard University, is not a good friend of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and is far removed from the Iranian government.
"I am a moderate politician, I am always at an equal distance from everybody," Mikati told the BBC yesterday after he was designated to form the next government. But he knows why he was tapped for the job: He must remove the threat of the international tribunal investigating Rafik Hariri's assassination, or at least sever any connection between the Lebanese government and the panel's expected indictment of Hezbollah activists. That means halting Lebanon's funding of the tribunal and returning the Lebanese judges to the panel.
If Mikati does that - though he has not yet publicly committed to doing so - he will be able to argue, and justifiably so, that even Saad Hariri was willing to ignore the international tribunal, under certain conditions.
Hezbollah doesn't need Mikati to demonstrate its control over Lebanese politics. Any prime minister that meets its demands - including Saad Hariri - is good from its perspective.
Lebanon will not suddenly become more Iranian or more "Hezbollian" than it was two days ago. It will primarily be more Syrian, and that is a major difference, as Syria - which seeks to move closer to the United States and, thanks to France, sees itself as close to Europe - does not want Iran to seize control in its traditional sphere of influence.
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A country who must get the permission of the United States, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Syria on who should be its Prime Minister! Why should a country like Saudi Arabia which is undemocratically ruled by royal dictators who have never permitted free democratic elections have any say at all in Lebanon's right to choose its PM? Even Iran has elections to choose its President! And why should a country like the US that supports Saudi Arabia and other dictatorships around the world, especially in the Arab world, have any say at all in Lebanon?
so who has been destroy lebanon ? the image is clear , the bad fox. our only perfect solution PEACE with our good neighbor ISRAEL ,open border ,open market ,strong economy , tourist ,open highway to africa , big benefit for lebanon.
if he was put forward by hezbollah, then you can rest assure he is squarely in their pocket....this man is a figure head for the terrorists behind the curtain,
he is not even close to Nasrallah, give him a chance
true , but his assad agent in lebanon
It is correct, US is approaching Syria quietlyand slowly, and this is why Jumblatt flipped to the other side, France and Saudi are leading the way for this. Mikati is a good choice for now, time will tell how US and Syria relation will develope
this article is a whitewash of what is really happening in lebanon by protraying mikati as a moderate. Nothing that has to do with hezbollah and iran is moderate and narallah is simply making nice to get rid of the UN tribunal, once its gone we will see who and how they run the country. Mitaki is being used just as Bar'el is .. both are trying to sell us some balanced positive spin to a coup that took over a long standing democracy and put the country in the hands of international terrorists. Sounds like for Bar'el thats a good day.
Good job Zvi
Your article is very clear, informative and interesting. I learned a lot from it/you. Lebanon is in fact a fascinating society - such complexity! We all know about the dangers from Iran/Hizbollah and Syria, but one must not forget that first and foremost there are ordinary people in the cedarland that wants to have normal lives. And Mr. Mikati, who is a businessman, wants stability. As a businessman, he hates uncertaintes and disorder. At the same time, let me remind you what Nachik Navot said in an interview in Haaretz some time ago: "That Lebanon will continue to be a problem for Israel and that the reality in the Middle East is dictated by changing interests rather than sentiments." Example: We just was how Jumblatt supported Nasrallah. But that doesn´t mean that Walid loves Hassan Nasrallah. It is about changing interests, not sentiments.And if it changed yesterday, than it will change tomorrow. Listen to Navot (And Barel). And I might add: There can´t be any inpunity for the murderers of Hariri. So Mr. Mikati has to accept that the tribunal will publish the indictments. And then what? God knows....
There seems to be a direct correlation between thumbs up and comments negative of Israel or praising Israel's enemies. I can tell exactly what direction a comment is going simply by looking at the thumbs. You should all check it out!
You are hypersensitive.
Wake up, dude, and have your daily medicine. Hizbullah is a violent organization based on hate and destruction. They cannot survive in a regular, democratic society. They bombed buildings in Argentina, killing innocent people, they provoked Israel countless times, bringing more wars and violence to the region. They feed turmoil in many regions in Africa. It is a fanatical bunch of people that can only survive amid violence. Your hate for the US is driving you blind. Please, go to the doctor, have your pill and get real.
Syria is the arm. Iran is the body.
Israel is the arm. USA is the body.
Having read only two articles about the guy so far, I have not enough information to make any judgment. It is a Lebanese Decision who runs Lebanon. It should not be an Israeli or Saudi or American or French or Iranian or Syrian decision. Other countries should butt out of the process and let the Lebanese decide.
....and the ocean should be dry and the grass blue and John Lennon's Imagine should be made the constitution of The United World.
"John Lennon's Imagine should be made the constitution of The United World." It actually should. This planet would much more peaceful for it.
Lebanon ceased to exist when Hizballah killed Hariri and faced down the government. It doesn't matter who's prime minister of a non-entity. Iran has swallowed Lebanon, and you can't get closer than that.
Hezbollah is a human organization that stand for justice, equality, sovereignty and love, that is why the USA hate it. The same USA listed President Mandela as a terrorist simply because he wanted to free his people from a genocide the Europeans settlers were committing on our people, The USA is the defender of oppression, terror and racial hegemony that they are running.
at this point, iran is sitting on israel's northern border.
You sound just like Saddam justifying the takeover of Kuwait. You sound as if that is your desire for Iran to have a few battalions of Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon to justify so Israeli action. Why not let the Lebanese decide for themselves?
1 the only ones who have taken over lebanon are iran-syria through their terror proxy hezbollah. you are conveniently forgetting that the negotiations for the kidnapped western hostages in lebanon(terry anderson, et al), were conducted by iran since the kidnappings were done on iran's behalf. 2 there have been revolutionary guards in lebanon for quite some time. 3 the lebanese as a whole cannot decide freely for themselves. that said, i do not care as long as the hezbollah terrorists do not cross the border and do not fire missiles into israel.
Now what smart guy from lewiston
...rather than the obsessive paranoid articles that make them.
Lebanon could not be any more unstable and who knows who will guide it tomorrow. Turkey was Israel's key to keeping Iran, Syria etc at bay but Israel fumbled. Without a respectable Palestinian state, Israel will soon be surrounded by Irans.
All of them want apiece of cake and are tearing Lebanon apart. Full of shame politics. Lebanon is bleeding. Leave Lebanese alone. All outside influence, bribes, threats must stop. None of them are sincere.
The standing joke when Assad occupied Lebanon was it was most easiest to get a job in Lebanon as a Lebanese citizen by first going to Syria and getting citizenship over there and then returning to Lebanon to apply for work as a Syrian citizen! When Hezbollah gives Mikati (or anyone else) their "blessing" it's known as a curse by anyone else's standards of definition. Expect serial compromises from him as more and more parallel pressure is exerted on his rule by Syria, Hezbollah, & Iran.
The problem is that he was essentially placed in PM's chair not by the will of the people, but by a coup that took place under threat of violence by an armed militia. It's the second time, in a very short period of time, that this armed militia has asserted its will over the Lebanese government by holding it hostage under the threat of violence. Interesting to note, that those voting for Mikati, aside from Hezbollah's usual allies, have all essentially said it was a matter of avoiding conflict. So it really doesn't matter if Mikati is a good choice or not, or whether his goals will be set on the benefit of Lebanon...because if he doesn't bow to the will of Hezbollah, he'll be replaced by Hezbollah. The precedent has been set, and Lebanon is essentially controlled by an armed militia...it's that simple.
It was a brilliant move by Nasrallah. Patience is a virtue. He achieved what he wanted to achieve, to delegitimize the "Israeli-US" tribunal project. The Hariri/Saudi/US/Israeli experimentation (march 14) seems will be fractionalized and eliminated as well.
iran has no power to disband the tribunal. this bloodless coup, thus far, by hezbollah will not achieve this aim. indictments will be handed down.
So who is this billionaire... Najib Mikati. According to Forbes magazine, he’s one of the richest men in Lebanon. A few years back, he sold his vast telecommunication empire for 2.6 billion dollars. In 2005, after the Hariri assassination and after Omar Karami resigned, Najib was summoned to lead Lebanon as Prime Minister. He lasted exactly 3 months before resigning himself. He’s a moderate Sunni legislator from Tripoli with a pro - Syria affiliation. In late 2005, Lebanon was engulfed in the so called ‘Cedar revolution’... marked by the massive departure of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Today, Mikati’s appointment is seen as an attempt by Hezbollah to impose it’s will on Lebanon. So the question remains... is Lebanon ready for a return of Syrian influence and can Najib Mikati straddle the divide between Saad Hariri and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah imposes his will on Lebanon by appointing a moderate? It does not make sense even if Mikati is pro-Syrian as you claim. The key words are "moderate" and "clean" as the article says. That what the country needs. Hariri was neither.
What Lebanon needs is when a party like Hezbollah signs-on to the Doha agreement... they keep their word. Instead they bring down the government... when event don’t go their way. Btw, clairvoyant one... Hariri is absolutely ‘clean and a moderate’. He believes that people who murder a former PM need to be convicted of the crime. Mikati... the pro-Syrian, will abolish the Tribunal and allow Syrian influence once more. So tell us... how exactly does that benefit Lebanon.
What a scenario you just predicted about the Tribunal….. and I am the clairvoyant one? The new government may abolish the Tribunal if it gets the majority of the votes. That yet remain to be seen. Mikati will not accept this position without Saudi blessing whom they dropped your boy toy Hariri like a hot potato. France blessed Mikati and the U.S. is cautiously doing the same if you are keeping up. The Saudis were insulted and disgusted by Hariri's last minute withdrawal from the Saudi-Syrian agreement and lost their confidence in this yuppi, therefore, they blessed a better one. The opposition consist of not only Hezbollah but a Christian majority, in case you forgot, and the Doha agreement gave them the veto power which everyone signed on it. Now Hariri and allies can exercise this constitutional right. BTW, Syria’s current enemies, were its allies and brought them into Lebanon during the civil war. Can't wait for the next prediction of your "proudly made by hand in Israel" Crystal Ball.
People who view the rest of humanity as 'the enemy' are drivel themselves. I say stay out of Lebanon's business. If they want to change government peacefully, let it be so. We don't want to see the USA sponsoring riots again.
Lebanon is a province of Syria, and Syria is a province of Iran. Therefore, since we own Syria, we own Lebanon as well. Israel, we now have a border with you. Be careful
Assad actually detests your regime. He's gonna buck it first chance he gets...and he's working on it.
You bet your arse Dan! You may not be shaking but your leaders and strategists are. With all the bad news that you're getting from Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Yemen and....... I don't think your leaders are having sweet dreams.
You think Iran owns Lebanon? Habibi owning Hezbollah does not mean you own Lebanon... 60% or 70% of Lebanese HATE Iran's policies and ideology!
Hillary made it absolutely clear that the United States was going to drive Lebanon into the arms of Iran. Since the USA has been the 'friend' always eager to sell Lebanon out to Israel, why should the Lebanese be worried. They will be exchanging a benefactor which was determined to make it a third rate punching bag of Israel for a nation which wants it to be it's first line deterrent to Israel. At least Iran will not be eager to keep Lebanon supine and destroyed.
This was a feel good article for those who are fighting. Fighting for freedom, fighting against terrorism, fighting at their jobs, fighting for their families and fighting for peace and tranquility etc. Ultimately, the regions interest lies in the unity of not only middle eastern countries, including Iran and Israel, but of the whole world. The goal is world peace, not domination of one country over another. Let's stop fighting and embrace our differences, so we can all live in a more beautiful world.
Your living in a dream world, wake up.