The sudden resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has opened the gate way to a new chaotic situation in the region at a time Lebanon was enjoying relative stability when the sectarian civil war in Syria and Iraq and the short lived Islamic State left hundreds and thousands of people killed and both the countries almost grounded to ashes.
But as the Syrian war is apparently closing to an end with the defeat of the Sunni rebels; who wanted to free the country from the despotic regime of President Bashar- al-Assad — a Shiite ruling the country inheriting as a family dynasty, Sunni majority Lebanon now seems to be entering into the fray.
It is increasingly facing new challenge from powerful Shiite group Hezbullah; which is now apparently blamed for new attempt to dominate the Sunni majority in Lebanon.
The resignation of Hariri; as he announced it from Saudi capital Riyadh on Friday; thus risks exacerbating sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims. Many fear the country may be facing difficulty now to pick up a new prime minister. Lebanon has a Sunni prime minister and Christian president. Speaker of the parliament comes from the Shiite community.
Saad Hariri, as a Sunni replaced his father Rafiq Hariri as prime minister of Lebanon following his assassination in Beirut in 2005 who was also killed in a similarly polarized situation. Saad Hariri was so far the most popular leader in a three way power sharing arrangement between Christians, Sunnis and Shiites political establishments. As he resins he blamed Iran and its local protégé Hezbullah for conspiracy to kill him for what he said for strengthening Shiite control over the country’s fragile political establishments. “Iran was sowing strife, destruction and ruin wherever it went” he said and he accused it of a “deep hatred for the Arab nation”. Iran backfired saying there was no such conspiracy. Hariri is acting on advise of Saudi Arabia, Israel and the USA to challenge Iranian influence in the region.
As the blame game is picking up, it appears the Saudi-Iran rivalry is entering into a new phase of confrontation as Saudi Arabia is blaming Iran for proxy war in Yemen on its southern border and for tension in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia lost its bid in Iraq and Syria as savior of the Sunni population and the bitterness is only growing as the USA is playing its hands from behind to use Saudi Arabia in its fight against Iran in the region.
As the blame game is picking up, it appears the Saudi-Iran rivalry is entering into a new phase of confrontation as Saudi Arabia is blaming Iran for proxy war in Yemen on its southern border and for tension in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia lost its bid in Iraq and Syria as savior of the Sunni population and the bitterness is only growing as the USA is playing its hands from behind to use Saudi Arabia in its fight against Iran in the region.
It appears Saudi Arabia is largely acting in support of the US strategy along with Israel; which in turn is strengthening Iran’s response to expand its control over the region. This is a complex situation for Saudi Arabia as the USA is pushing it towards Israel that many Muslims in the world don’t want to see.
Meanwhile the massive purse in Saudi royal family on alleged corruption charges is creating further volatility in the kingdom as people are keeping watch how the new Saudi leadership will handle situation at home and also in Lebanon when it is already overburdened with war in Yemen.
The emerging situation in Lebanon remind many the memory of a long civil war that Christian and Muslims fought in the 1970s with huge loss of life and suffering to its people.
Walid Jumblatt, the leader of Lebanon’s Druze minority, said Lebanon is too weak to bear the consequences of Hariri’s resignation as he feared serious political and economic fallout from it. “We cannot afford to fight the Iranians from Lebanon,” he told Reuters calling for compromise with Hezbollah and laying emphasis on Saudi-Iranian dialogue to bring out the region from the brink of a new war.
