Multiple attempts failed to resolve stalemate between rival politicians, By Hani M. Bathish, Daily Star,
BEIRUT: Politically, 2007 was a year of intense activity in Lebanon, but with few tangible results. It was a year of looming constitutional vacuums, incessant political bickering, and near total legislative inertia, as the doors of Parliament remained shut, and the country was left without a head of state, just a Cabinet whose own legitimacy was questioned. An encampment of opposition supporters in Downtown Beirut laying siege to what they saw as the ruling coalition’s "monopoly on power" is what many will remember of the past year. What began as a resignation of opposition ministers in protest over the path the government was taking snow-balled into a major political crisis as 2006 came to a close. Little did anyone know that the sit-in near the Grand Serail would last for more than a year.
The start of the year also saw an economic reform plan unveiled to cut public debt and revitalize the crippled economy. The opposition viewed the plan as a new edifice of the hated government to tear down. Each component of the plan was met with outright rejection by the opposition and protest rallies led by the opposition-aligned General Labor Confederation.
The logjam persisted right up to and beyond the end of former President Emile Lahoud’s term on November 23. Throughout the year, the governing coalition and the opposition traded accusations, recriminations and even expletives. It was a year of crisis milestones, from the ratification of the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon to try suspects in the slaying of former Premier Rafik Hariri, to disagreement over a consensus presidential candidate and the distribution of Cabinet posts in a new government.
The Council of Maronite Bishops warned early in the year that the situation had become "unstable" and that "Lebanon’s salvation should emanate from inside the country not from outside it." The warning went unheeded as old demons from the 1975-90 Civil War were roused.
By Robert F Worth, Lebanon may seem an unlikely holiday spot: the government has collapsed, car bombs go off periodically and foreign envoys warn of an impending civil war.And yet, so many people have been streaming into this tiny, embattled country in recent days that the flights are all overbooked, and some well-heeled travelers are driving 18 hours from the Persian Gulf. Beirut’s restaurants, bars and malls are all packed with revelers.
In his annual Christmas message on Friday, influential Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, head of the Maronite Catholic community from which Lebanon’s presidents are drawn, urged all parties to unite and end Lebanon’s political vacuum. "We have to reject hatred… and stop seeking personal interests at the expense of national interests," he said. "The presidency has been vacant for more than half a month, parliament has been paralysed for about a year and our government is limping with some cabinet members pursuing a strike," he said. 
By Challiss McDonough, 
BEIRUT (AFP)–Lebanon’s presidential election was postponed for a ninth time Monday, to December 22, despite intense international efforts to convince rival parties to strike a deal and end a dangerous political vacuum. "The parliament session that was scheduled today has been postponed to Saturday December 22 at 12:30 p.m. (1030 GMT)," Mohamed Ballout, spokesman for parliament speaker Nabih Berri, told reporters.
Lebanon – Lebanese politicians and military officers bade a mournful farewell to the martyr one of the top generals’ Francois el Hajj and his bodyguard Khairallah Hadwane Friday in a funeral that briefly united the deeply divided country. Hundreds of grieving Lebanese stood in a downpour along the route of Maj. Gen. Francois Hajj’s flag-draped casket from his home in a Beirutsuburb to the Maronite Catholic basilica in the Christian mountain heartland north of the capital.
The Khazen family offers its deepest condoleances to the families of the martyrs General Francois Hajj, and Khairallah Hedwan . BEIRUT — A car bomb attack killed one of Lebanon’s top generals and at least two other people Wednesday, the military and state media said, putting even more pressure on the country’s delicate political situation. The target of the attack, Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj, a top Maronite Catholic in the command, was considered a leading candidate to succeed the head of the military, Gen. Michel Suleiman, if Suleiman is elected president. Hajj, 55, also led a major military campaign against Islamic militants over the summer. The blast is the first such attack against the Lebanese army, which has remained neutral in Lebanon’s yearlong political crisis and is widely seen as the only force that can hold the country together amid the bitter infighting between parliament’s rival factions. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem denounced the "criminal attack" on Hajj. "We condemn any action that threatens Lebanon," he said. Hajj helped lead an army onslaught on al Qaedainspired militants at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon this year in which 168 soldiers and about 230 Fatah al-Islam fighters were killed.
The main Christian opposition leader, Michel Aoun told reporters that he had supported Hajj to succeed Suleiman as army commander. Aoun, a former head of the military, praised Hajj and said it was "shameful" for political forces to take advantage of the crime. "We are facing a security catastrophe today," said Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, calling on the interior minister to resign. Visibly shaken, the former army chief told reporters Hajj had been his preferred candidate for the top military post. Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, speaking to AP Television News, accused the "Syrian-Iranian axis" of hitting the military, "the only body in Lebanon who can balance the power of Hezbollah and other militias in the country." But the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah, which has good relations with the army, denounced the killing. It called Hajj’s death a "great national loss" and praised the military’s "great national role" in preserving security. The White House denounced the killing. "We strongly condemn the assassination of Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj. This is a crucial time as Lebanon seeks to maintain a democratically elected government and select a new president," said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe. "President Bush will continue to stand with the Lebanese people as they counter those who attempt to undermine their security and freedom." Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem denounced the "criminal attack" on Hajj. "We condemn any action that threatens Lebanon," he said.
