Page 9 - Aruba Today

WORLD NEWS 9
Friday 4 December 2015

Ally of Syria’s Assad tipped to Clashes as thousands of migrants are
be Lebanon’s next president stuck outside Macedonia

ZEINA KARAM C. KANTOURIS from the Greek village of Greek citizens in Europe.
Associated Press L. COOK Idomeni. Tired of waiting, More than 600,000 migrants
BEIRUT (AP) — Under an emerging deal to resolve Associated Press thousands of refugees then have flooded into Greece
Lebanon’s 18-month political deadlock, one of the IDOMENI, Greece (AP) — broke through a Greek po- this year, many fleeing con-
strongest allies and a close personal friend of Syr- Greek riot police struggled lice cordon, surging to the flict in Syria or Iraq. Nearly
ian President Bashar Assad may become the next to maintain order Thursday Macedonian border, which all have entered the coun-
Lebanese president. after chaotic clashes be- immediately closed again. try from nearby Turkey,
Sleiman Frangieh, a 50-year old politician and law- tween asylum-seekers at Earlier, Police distributed fli- paying large fees to smug-
maker who survived a notorious civil war massacre the country’s border with ers warning the economic gling gangs who arrange
at the age of 13, was not even running for the post Macedonia, where thou- migrants that they must their crossings in small, over-
of president and up until recently seemed an un- sands seeking a new life in leave the border area with- crowded boats. Hundreds
likely candidate. the European Union have in three days, and the gov- of people have drowned
It’s a choice few anticipated, but then, Lebanon is
no stranger to back-door political deals. A Macedonian policeman gestures as he tries to calm a group of migrants attempting to cross the
The possible breakthrough comes after months of Greek-Macedonian border, near the northern Greek village of Idomeni.
bickering among the Lebanese politicians that has
led to near complete paralysis of the state at a time (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
when Lebanon faces multiple challenges — from
spillovers of the conflict next door, soaring tensions seen their long trek north ernment implied it would this year in the Aegean Sea.
among the Lebanese divided over sectarian loyal- brought to an abrupt halt take more drastic action if
ties, to an economy and resources stretched to the by closed borders and new necessary. Police say about 6,000
limit by the influx of Syrian refugees. rules. At least two people The United Nations refugee
Frangieh became a candidate two week ago were injured Thursday at agency, UNHCR, voiced people are stuck at Ido-
when his name was suddenly tossed in the ring by the border as hundreds of “deep concern” about the
former Prime Minister Saad Hariri after the two men people rejected by Mace- tensions, urging Greece meni, sleeping in a shelter
met in Paris. donia — so-called eco- and Macedonia to man-
For a year and a half since President Michel Sulei- nomic migrants — clashed age the border “in a man- provided by charities, in
man stepped down after his six-year-term ended, with the Syrians, Afghans ner consistent with human
Lebanon has been without a head of state as law- and Iraqis that Macedonia rights and refugee-protec- hundreds of tents or in the
makers repeatedly failed to agree on a consensus is allowing in. tion principles.” The clashes
president. Late Thursday, a group of came as Greece faces fields. About 3,500 are Ira-
According to the country’s power-sharing system, mainly Iranian migrants with mounting pressure from
the president must be a Maronite Christian, the small children agreed to its EU partners to ensure nians, Pakistanis and other
prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliament stop manning barricades better control of its bor-
speaker a Shiite Muslim. that prevented refugees ders and register arriving nationalities not allowed in
The two main party blocks continued to reject each from entering Macedo- migrants, or face the pros-
other’s presidential candidates, despite 32 parlia- nia, and about 300 peo- pect that passport checks by Macedonians, while the
ment sessions called for by Parliament Speaker ple crossed the border could be reintroduced for
Nabih Berri to elect a president. rest are from Syria, Afghani-
The deadlock and paralysis reached its peak during
the summer, when the country was shaken by the stan and Iraq.
largest protests in years over the government’s in-
ability to find a solution to Lebanon’s ongoing trash An Iranian manning the
problem. The demonstrations quickly developed
into protests against the entire political establish- barricade, 45-year-old
ment.
Last month, twin suicide bombings claimed by the Saeid Kanani, said he has
Islamic State group killed more than 40 people in
southern Beirut. been trapped at the bor-
The Frangieh bid is likely to be, at least in part, a re-
sult of regional cooperation that recently brought der for the past two weeks,
together Mideast foes Iran and Saudi Arabia to the
table in Vienna in an effort to find a political settle- ever since Macedonia im-
ment for Syria.
Lebanon has long been a traditional battleground posed its policy of selective
in the regional proxy war between the two coun-
tries, which back opposing political camps in Syria’s
war, and also in Lebanon.q

admission.q