Leaflet
threats by Syrian-sponsored Muslim fanatics to wage
a war of "kitchen knives" against a fledgling
anti-Syria coalition of major Christian and leftist
groups may provide an alibi for president Lahoud's regime
to clamp a ban on all public rallies marking the civil
war anniversary.
Leaflets tossed into scores of mosques, key intersections
and low-income Muslim-populated neighborhoods of Beirut
called for a massive turn out of Muslims to confront
the new coalition activists with "your teeth, fists,
clubs and kitchen knives" April 11.
Army
and police patrols made no move to stop the leaflet
broad daylight distributors as they agitated against
the April 11 rally called by the coalition to "proclaim
the end of the civil war" at downtown Beirut's
Martyr Square.
Sponsors
of the rally are Druze leader Walid Jumblat's Progressive
Socialist Party, exiled Gen. Michel Aoun's Free National
Movement, jailed Christian Samir Geagea's Lebanese
Forces, the Communist Party, Leftist politician Najah
Wakim's Democratic Forum and the Leftist Groupings.
The
PSP fielded the mightiest Muslim militia in the 1975-1990
civil war and the Communists were aligned with Jumblat's
fighting machine.
The
now outlawed Lebanese Forces was the Christian camp's
main militia. Gen. Aoun, who was interim prime minister
and army commander from 1988 to 1990, waged an ill-starred
'War of Liberation' against the Syrian Army and another
'War of Obliteration' against the LF before he was
banished to France in 1991.
Wakim,
a sulfur-tongued leftist politician who was long allied
with Syria, had banned his supporters from joining
the civil war. He has lately formed the Democratic
Forum with the avowed objective of stopping Syria
from spoiling Lebanon's political life.
The
rally scheduled for Wednesday at the downtown commercial
district, which was the scene of some of the heaviest
civil war battles, has been seen as a manifestation
by the main antagonists that they have made their
own peace and would not go to war again if the Syrian
army leaves Lebanon.
The
agitation for a Muslim counter-rally was seen as a
muscle-flexing Syrian message to remind the standard-bearer
of the campaign against its tutelage, Maronite Patriarch
Nasrallah Sfeir, that President Bashar Assad's regime
has massive backing in Lebanon.
"The Lebanese society is being pushed to the
brink of explosion and the national unity is being
nudged toward a total collapse in a vulgar leaflet
campaign waged to frighten the advocates of Syria's
exit," wrote An-Nahar's columnist Nicholas Nassif.
He
said the regime now has the alibi to call a ban on
all public rallies called for the civil war anniversary
next week.
There
were reports already circulating in Beirut that Christian
Leftist coalition rally was cancelled to avoid clashes
with fanatic Muslims.
