Saad Hariri

The Number One Sunni in Lebanon

Shortly after Najib Miqati became prime minister of Lebanon early last year, he went on Marcel Ghanem’s venerable political talk show, Kalam el-Nas.

Marcel asked him to respond to his opponents’ critique that he was not “Sunni enough” to assume the post from which Saad Hariri had been unceremoniously ejected by Hizbullah and its allies. Miqati responded with a hysterical tirade… Continue reading »

Hizbullah, Mikati, and the STL Funding Showdown

Ever since Najib Mikati took over as Prime Minister of Lebanon earlier this year, things have gone relatively smoothly. With no opposition in the cabinet, there have been few opportunities for conflict (with the exception of the odd squabble between Michel Aoun and his disgruntled allies). All that could change next week. The cabinet must … Continue reading »

@yuhaa ‘l-Lubnaniyoun: The Zu`ama Discover Twitter…

The Future of al-Mustaqbal

Now that the mystery of Moussa al-Sadr’s disappearance has been solved, Lebanon needs a new vanished imam to contemplate. Why not Saad al-Hariri? Even by his own peripatetic standards, al-Hariri’s absence from the political scene over the past several months has been something to behold. The man has well and truly left the building, and … Continue reading »

What Hizbullah Wants From Mikati

I’ve been having a debate with several of my regular commenters over the past month and I thought it was time to dig it out of the forum and give it its own post. The topic: how Hizbullah plans to face the upcoming indictments by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which everyone assumes will … Continue reading »