As Lebanon marks the 32nd anniversary of its deadly civil war on Friday, people who fought in it were expressing deep pessimism about whether the country can avoid another such conflict - but hope that an awareness campaign might help avoid a repetition of the bloodshed.
The pessimism has prompted Muslim and Christian militiamen who fought in the 1975-1990 civil war to publicly recall the horrors of their experiences and voice their fears that a second civil war in Lebanon would be "uglier than the first one."
Mohammed Shihab, a Muslim militiamen, and Dany Rokoz, a Christian Phalangist, who fought fierce battles against each other in the 1975 civil war stood speechless as they entered the seafront Holiday Inn - still riddled with bullets and rocket holes from the war.
"In this room and through this hall, I used to fire my rifle towards our rivals the Christian Phalangists, to whom Rokoz belonged, thinking I was doing that because I loved Lebanon," Shihab said. Last week, Shihab and Rokoz united hand-in-hand along with other militiamen to commemorate the April 13 anniversary by airing their fears that the situation in 2007 is similar to the situation which prevailed shortly before the war erupted in 1975.
Shihab and Rokoz, both businessmen, are leading a campaign under the slogan "peace for Lebanon and its people," which they will hold on a race track close to the green line that demarcates Christian and Muslim neighbourhoods in Beirut. "We should all work to avoid reaching such a stage despite that the situation in the country is very critical and people are thinking that a second civil war is a matter of time," Shihab said.
They will also put on display the bus that was attacked by Christian militiamen on April 13, 1975. Twenty-seven passengers, mostly Palestinian who were Sunni Muslims, died in the attack in Beirut's eastern suburb of Ain al-Rummaneh, spilling the blood that sparked the civil war.
The attack was an act of revenge for the killing of a Christian Phalangist member outside a church in the area.
"We want to raise our voices that we do not want another war and we will not allow it," Shihab said. "I am still haunted by the horrible memories of such days and I do not want my children to go through what I went through during the war years."
"War is not a game, it is destructive and costly," Rokoz said. The unfolding conflict saw savage massacres that killed more than 150,000 and left more than 250,000 wounded.
It destroyed the country's infrastructure and turned most of the capital Beirut into rubble. The conflict only ended when Syrian troops entered the country to maintain an uneasy peace - but also to interfere in the country's politics.
But strong emotions have stirred since the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, possibly at Syrian hands for his opposition to their presence. The bomb attack that killed more than a dozen people increased international and domestic pressure on Syria, which pulled out just months later.
Most Lebanese are today haunted by the thought that a deepening political deadlock between the pro-Syrian opposition and the ruling anti-Syrian parliamentary majority could lead to a second civil war, despite assurances by some major leaders, like the head of the Lebanese Shiite movement, Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
Those feelings were heightened by the bloody conflict with Israel last summer after Hezbollah snatched two Israeli soldiers across the border.
"We don't want a civil war. If the stalemate continues for a while until a solution is found or we go to a civil war, then let the stalemate continue," Nasarallah, who heads the pro-Syrian opposition, said.
But such statements have not eased the worries of most Lebanese, who suspect that militia factions who were disarmed after 1990 are again arming - despite the 1989 national reconciliation accord in the Saudi summer resort of Taif, which demanded disarmament.
According to an arms dealer who requested anonymity, the demand for buying weapons increased since November 2006. "It is just like before the 1975 civil war, people and factions are buying weapons and hiding them in depots to be used at the right time," said the arms dealer.
Shihab said there were plenty of signs for a return to civil war. He pointed to the sectarian tension that surfaced in late January, when mainly Sunni followers of the anti-Syrian camp clashed with Shiite students, killing at least six near a Beirut University.
"This was an alarming sign for the Lebanese and made them start thinking that a new civil war is on their door step," Shihab said.
As a memorial to the civil war, a few buildings still stand, in their destroyed condition, to remind Lebanese of the ugly war. They are mostly at Beirut's green line, an area that divides Beirut into two halves, "Muslim West Beirut" and "Christian East Beirut."
-DPA
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