WORLD, Page 52LEBANONA Bomb Aimed at PeaceJust 17 days in office, the new President is killed in Beirutin another setback for attempts to stop the endless bloodshed
Mangled metal, crushed bodies, bloody survivors screaming for
help amid& piles of rubble. Last week terrorism showed up again in
its favorite city, Beirut. Rene Moawad, President of Lebanon for
only 17 days and the embodiment of a fragile new attempt at peace,
was decapitated when a remote-controlled bomb, hidden in a
(shuttered shop, exploded as his motorcade passed by after
ceremonies marking the 46th anniversary of Lebanon's independence.
The estimated 550 lbs. of explosives tore trees out by their roots,
hurled the engine block of Moawad's armored Mercedes 50 yards,
shattered windows a mile away and raised a cloud of brown smoke
over the city. In all, 24 people, including nine civilians, were
killed and 36 wounded. "The whole shop was a bomb," said a Lebanese
army intelligence officer.
Because of the country's instability, the presidency had been
vacant for more than 13 months before Moawad got the job. Unlike
many other legislators, Moawad, 64, a moderate Maronite Catholic
who enjoyed Syria's backing and had served in the Lebanese
parliament since 1957, never fled the country to escape the civil
war. Conciliatory and a persistent negotiator, he was chosen
President in early November by 58 aging Deputies meeting in the
mess hall of an abandoned air base.
Moawad's election wa,s a crucial step in a peace attempt
brokered last month by the Arab League. The goal was to restore
stability by giving Lebanon's Muslim majority greater powers in
parliament and the Cabinet while reducing those of the Christian
President. Under a new constitution, the President shares power
with parliament, including the selection of a Cabinet that
carefully balances Lebanon's religious sects. The U.N. Security
Council, the U.S. and the European Community endorsed Moawad's
efforts to form a government of national unity under this revised
framework, and he had been making some progress despite trouble
finding Lebanese politicians willing to serve in the Cabinet.
Though that progress was slight, the bombers were evidently
determined to destroy it. Many Lebanese speculated that General
Michel Aoun, the bitterest foe of the Arab League peace plan and
the commander of fanatically loyal Christian forces in East Beirut,
was behind the killing. Aoun has been outraged that the plan
permits 40,000 Syrian troops to remain indefinitely in Lebanon. He
had pronounced Moawad's election void and vowed to throw out the
Syrians. Aoun is too weak to achieve that goal but was strong
enough to cause havoc. Before the assassination, thousands of his
mostly youthful supporters crowded into the courtyard of his
bombed-out palace, offering Nazi-style salutes and chanting "We
sacrifice our souls and blood to you, O General," while riots and
a general strike took place in the territory Aoun controls. He
threatened revenge against Deputies who helped negotiate the peace
plan, and seven had their houses or offices bombed. "I cannot
protect them from subversive elements," said Aoun, who, to avoid
Moawad's fate, rarely leaves his bunker.
Aoun denied responsibility for the assassination, branding it
a "loathsome crime," and he is by no means the only possible
suspect. Some Lebanese thought the professionalism of the bombing
signaled a foreign intelligence service in action. Iran, Israel
and Iraq were leading candidates, since each backs militant
Lebanese factions that could suffer if the plan succeeds.
After announcing Moawad's murder on television in a voice
breaking with emotion, Prime Minister Selim Hoss, an
American-trained economist who has survived several assassination
attempts, worked with Hussein Husseini, the speaker of the
parliament, to reconvene the legislature and select a President.
"Each one of us is Rene Moawad," said Husseini. "We all have the
absolute duty to pursue the peace process until the salvation of
the country."
At a hastily called session, meeting under heavy guard in the
crossroads town of Chtaura, east of Beirut, parliament elected
Elias Hraoui, also a Maronite Catholic, to succeed Moawad. Hraoui,
59, is a wealthy landowner who has good contacts with Lebanese
Muslims. He promptly appointed a Cabinet of national reconciliation
with representatives from the country's seven main sects, a major
accomplishment. "Of course the Deputies are frightened," said
Boutros Harb, a Christian Deputy. "But courage is the son of fear."
Despite the courage of Lebanon's parliamentarians, the fear in
Beirut, spawning an exodus of thousands, is that Aoun's soldiers
might clash with Syrian troops. A Syrian-supported attack on Aoun's
stronghold is likely if, after a face-saving interval, the general
does not accept the new government's authority. By week's end he
had taken no action hostile to the government beyond denouncing
Hraoui's election as illegitimate. Hraoui, on the other hand,
swiftly moved to assert his powers by dismissing the three-man
interim Cabinet that has been serving under Aoun.
The skill and resolve of Hraoui and his ministers in creating
a government even before Moawad was buried is a hopeful sign and
shows the depth of Lebanon's yearning for peace. But Aoun will have
to put aside his dream of ejecting the Syrians if Lebanon is to
avoid disintegrating further into the anarchy sought by Moawad's
killers. If Aoun does not, life in the country will soon resemble
life in Thomas Hobbes' state of nature: "solitary, poor, nasty,
