Disabled activists helped prod Lebanon politicians into accord
Their striking protest calling for an end to the crisis resonated with the country.
BEIRUT — Wheelchair-bound, they had neither guns nor influence. They lined up along the airport road as convoys of tinted-windowed SUVs carrying politicians headed to Qatar last week to try to break a political deadlock that was dragging this fragile country toward civil war. They were mostly ignored, except by bodyguards who swung their weapons menacingly toward them.
But the activists' striking image and the simple power of their words resonated deeply among the Lebanese people. The protest sent an unmistakable message reflecting the widespread anger toward political leaders in both the pro-Western coalition known as March 14 and the Iranian- and Syrian-backed camp led by the Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah.
"If you don't agree, don't come back," said their signs, visible in TV footage that aired at home and around the world.
On Wednesday, after defying the predictions of most analysts and hammering out an agreement to share power until next year's elections, Lebanese politicians began trickling home to a jubilant country now hoping for calm after an 18-month political crisis.
The deal, signed after six days of talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, cleared the way for army Chief of Staff Gen. Michel Suleiman to ascend to the presidency in a parliamentary vote Sunday. He was named to the post last fall, but final approval had been blocked by political infighting, deepening the sense of chaos.
The step forward came with concessions. The agreement appeared to solidify Hezbollah's status as an armed force that overshadows the power of the state. It did so by giving the movement and its allies enough Cabinet positions to veto any attempt to take away their formidable arsenal, intelligence assets or communications network.
The accord also granted the U.S.-backed March 14 leader, Saad Hariri, the electoral law he sought, securing a majority of Beirut seats for his loyalists in 2009 parliamentary elections and a promise that Hezbollah will not use its weapons against fellow Lebanese, as it did during an offensive this month that left at least 60 people dead.
The violence showed the limits of Lebanese democracy. Hezbollah's offensive forced the government to negotiate Cabinet allocations and election rules before Suleiman was named president. The militant movement had not been able to win those concessions through politics or protest.
