Peace at a Price in Lebanon Election

AMMAN, Jordan, May 25, 2008— -- In less than three weeks. Lebanon has moved from the brink of civil war to an all-out party.

The man they're celebrating is army Commander Michel Suleiman, who was elected president today, breaking a long and violent political crisis.

But peace and a presidency came at a price: a shift in Lebanese political power toward a coalition led by Hezbollah, a political party considered a terrorist group in the West.

With his portrait hanging all around Beirut, President Suleiman is the man of the hour. He fills a post that was left empty during an ongoing disagreement between the Lebanese government and an opposition led by Hezbollah.

Suleiman, respected by both camps for his military leadership and political neutrality, has been the clear frontrunner for months. When Lebanon's last president left office in November the government and the opposition were at a political impasse, postponing the presidential poll again and again -- a total of 19 times.

Then came the gunfire of clashes that killed more than 60 people. The violence erupted when the Lebanese government made a bold move against Hezbollah, challenging its security apparatus and threatening to dismantle its private telecommunications network, critical to its military operations.

Hezbollah and its allies pushed back hard, turning the political battle into a street fight. With a clearly stronger force, Hezbollah-led militias subdued government supporters and took over key neighborhoods of Beirut. Gunmen set up roadblocks and check points, restricting movement through the city, shutting down the airport and closing some land routes to Syria.

The grievances were political, but the fighting took on a sectarian tone -- Sunni vs. Shiite, Shiite vs. Druze. Ten days ago Ahmed Musalli, a professor at the American University of Beirut, described Lebanon as standing at "a dangerous crossroads between war and peace."

At the peak of the tension, the Arab League stepped in, hoping to break up the fight. After a delegation from Qatar took the lead in negotiations, Lebanese leaders flew to Doha to discuss the country's political future. They settled on a deal: an end to violence and a set of significant changes in the Lebanese power structure.