It has been quiet in Beirut today, but there was fighting in both Tripoli in the north and in the Shouf, south east of Beirut. Both seem to have died down now, and the army has moved in to maintain order. The airport is still closed, blockaded by Hezbollah. Things seem volatile, but not hopeless.
In our area, in West Beirut, there remained a few armed guys on a couple of street corners, flags of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party flying here and there, and spray painted party logos had appeared on many buildings in the neighborhood. They are a small group allied with the Shiite Moslem Hezbollah, but are Eastern Orthodox Christians...and Nazis. Reminds me of the sign Tom has outside his office that says "If you think you understand Lebanese politics, no one has explained it to you properly."
So the "flight" bag remains half unpacked, a barometer of current conditions. When the violence ratchets up, I throw a few more things in. When it looks like life is returning to normal, things go back in the drawer.
Meanwhile we got some clarification on emergency evacuation. The embassy had sent a disturbing email saying that it was our responsibility to plan for evacuation. The email informed us that the airport was closed (well, duh) and suggested that we might charter a boat to Cyprus. With Hezbollah controlling the port and there being very few boats in the Beirut harbor, this was not a comforting thought. But we later learned that there is indeed an evacuation plan, and that it involves going north out to Syria, which sounds reasonable.
No comments:
Post a Comment