Last week the leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia Bashar al-Asad and King Abdullah came to Beirut to meet the President of Lebanon, Michel Sleiman in a hastily-arranged summit. The speed with which the summit was arranged indicated the level of fear in the region about tensions that exist in Lebanon and the need to provide reassurance so that the fragile Lebanese polity does not once again erupt as a result of the tensions. Both leaders came to Lebanon to 'urge stability'. The Emir of Qatar was also in Lebanon for Army Day and urged calm in the face of tensions.
What is the cause of these tensions? The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) which has been charged by the UN with finding those responsible for the assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri (knows as ‘Mr Lebanon’) is ready to lay down a second set of indictments for the assassination against some low-level members of Hezbollah.