Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)
France:
France has historic ties to Lebanon dating back to 1920- 1946 when France was the ruling mandate power in the region. It established Lebanon’s borders and helped shape the country’s confessional system. Recently, France has spearheaded international efforts to end the political crisis and has been one of the most vocal Western critics of Syrian interference in Lebanon’s affairs. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has traveled to Lebanon several times over the past months to assist in negotiating an agreement about the country’s next president.
Iran:
Iran provides extensive funding, training, and weapons to Hezbollah, at once a militant movement on the U.S. terrorist list and a political party in the Lebanese parliament, which models its political and religious doctrine on the Iranian revolutionary ideology of Ayatollah Khomeini. Iran has sided with Syria against the Western-backed ruling coalition in Lebanon. Iran’s support for Hezbollah and siding with Syrian forces in Lebanon allows it to put covert and overt pressure on the United States and Israel.
Israel:
Southern Lebanon has long been a staging ground for anti-Israel militias, first the PLO from 1970-1982 and, from 1982 Hezbollah. Repeated PLO-Israeli clashes provoked Israeli incursions into Lebanon in 1978 and 1982. Israel played a role in the Lebanese civil war and an Israeli government commission of inquiry found that Israel had indirect responsibility for the massacre of Palestinian refugees by the Christian Phalangist forces at Sabra and Shatilla. Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon in 2000, with the exception of the disputed Shabaa farms region. In the summer of 2006, Israeli forces re-entered Lebanon after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. The conflict lasted 34 days in total. The Israeli government remains concerned by the threat posed to Israel by Hezbollah influence in Lebanon.
Russia:
Russia has historic ties to Syria as their patron during the Cold War, and in recent years, it sold Syria anti-tank weapons, which were used by Hezbollah against Israeli forces fighting in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. In the past months, both Prime Minister Siniora and the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have met with Vladimir Putin, in hopes of gaining Russian support.
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia has become more involved in promoting regional stability and protecting the rights of Sunni Muslims in recent years, and as such, has worked actively to resolve the Lebanese political crisis. Along with the United States and France, Saudi Arabia backs the ruling coalition headed by Fouad Siniora. Saudi Arabia has called on the Lebanese to commit to the constitution and elect a new president in order to preserve security and stability.
Syria:
Syria and Lebanon were considered one territory (Greater Syria) until 1920 and the two countries have had close and somewhat complicated relations ever since. Syrian involvement in Lebanon became substantial during the Lebanese civil war, culminating with the deployment of Syrian troops into Lebanon in 1976. Syrian troops withdrew from the country in 2005, following widespread protests in response to the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which many blamed on Syria. The Syrian government is concerned about the results of the UN-sponsored tribunal investigating the Hariri assassination. Syria backs the opposition to Prime Minister Siniora and provides support for Hezbollah.
United States:
Lebanon has been at the heart of the Bush administration’s democracy project in the Middle East. President Bush presented the mass protests against the Syrian forces which followed the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri as a prime example of Middle East democratization. In support of the protesters, the U.S. administration reacted strongly to the assassination of the Prime Minister Hariri in February 2005 and demanded the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. United States’ concerns also include Lebanon’s capacity to halt Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel. In hopes of minimizing Syria’s and Hezbollah’s influence in the country, the United States, along with France and Saudi Arabia, back the pro-Western forces of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.