Beirut on the Brink
With Lebanon's leading troika abroad for diplomatic sessions, sectarian rifts have begun to reappear, and fears are growing that Syria’s conflict could leak over the Lebanese border, writes Jean Aziz.
![Lebanon's President Suleiman talks during a news conference with Ivory Coast's President Ouattara at the presidential palace in Abidjan Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman talks during a news conference with Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara at the presidential palace in Abidjan March 15, 2013. Suleiman visits the Ivory Coast as part of his official West Africa trip. REUTERS/Luc Gnago (IVORY COAST - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3F1EZ](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2013/03/RTR3F1EZ.jpg/RTR3F1EZ.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=-CPNXIMX)
After a week of complete political paralysis because of the absence of Lebanon’s officials, who are currently traveling abroad, and amid an overall escalation in tensions across society, Beirut is set to resume addressing its most pressing obligations on the electoral, economic, security and military levels. Many Lebanese politicians have openly declared that the countdown has begun to a security meltdown if a settlement is not reached.
The last thing Lebanon needed was an attack by kids on four Sunni clerics in Beirut and the city’s southern suburbs on Sunday, March 17, which prompted a wave of riots and roadblocks in most Sunni areas.