The reelection of US President George W. Bush signals more difficult times ahead for Syria and the pro-Syrian regime in Lebanon in the face of mounting US and UN pressure, lawmakers and the press warned on Thursday.
"To the shelters, it's Bush," screamed the front page editorial of the left-wing As Safir newspaper.
"The Americans did not wish to change their army commander in a period of war," it said.
"They did not hold him accountable on the so-called reasons [for the war] or its astronomical costs, but said: 'it is a war and we have to complete it,'" it said.
Lebanon's leading An Nahar newspaper said Bush's reelection and the victory of the Republicans in Congress will encourage him to "pursue the same foreign policies that he led in the last four years, particularly concerning the war on terrorism and Iraq."
Beirut and its political masters in Damascus have been under pressure from the Bush administration which is leading an international campaign to end Syria's military presence in Lebanon and its interference in the domestic affairs of its neighbor.
Relations between the United States and Syria, which has about 15,000 troops on Lebanese soil, have long been strained. Washington in May slapped economic sanctions on Damascus, claiming it was supporting terrorism and seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction, charges denied by Syria.
Lebanese opposition MP Fares Sahed said Bush's reelection will "accelerate the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559," which laid out the international community's demands on Damascus.
"Bush's return means a speeding up of the process of drawing a mechanism for the implementation of this Resolution at the Security Council," said Sahed.
"And therefore he would pursue his policy of reorganizing a new Middle East from a US security point of view, which will increase the pressure on Lebanon and Syria to implement Resolution 1559."
Ammar Musawi, an MP from the parliamentary bloc of the Lebanese Shia Muslim radical Hizbullah movement, said that "we expected pressures whether Bush or [Democratic candidate John] Kerry had won.
"But with the return of Bush, these pressures will increase, and Lebanon and Syria are already under pressure," he told Al Balad newspaper.
Farid Al Khazen, international relations professor at the American University of Beirut, told Al Balad, "Resolution 1559 was adopted during the term of Bush, and so was Syria Accountability and Lebanon Sovereignty Act," and added, "Therefore, the new Bush term will witness an accelerated implementation of these two resolutions."
Bush win tough on Lebanon and Syria
TOOLBAR
To add a comment,
Please log in:
Don't have an account?
Register now to comment on stories and stay up to date on important events and issues in the Middle East with our newsletter.