Beirut
The head of the Arab League this week offered to mediate a tense standoff between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government. "I don't carry with me initiatives," Abu Moussa said, "but there are ideas that I hope to discuss." Hezbollah, a Syrian- and Iranian-backed militant Islamic party, has been holding massive demonstrations in Beirut for two weeks, demanding the resignation of anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Supporters of Siniora say Hezbollah is trying to bring down the government because the Cabinet just voted to allow an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. His killing was widely blamed on Syria.
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