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| 11/05/2008 The ruling bloc is seriously confused and its armed militia is very close to collapse in front of National Opposition supporters. Fierce fighting has erupted in most areas of Mount Lebanon between Walid Jumblatt’s militia and opposition supporters as calm returned to the capital Beirut that is under total control of the Lebanese army.
Opposition supporters in Mount Lebanon forced out Jumblatt’ Progressive Socialist Party militiamen from several areas mainly, Shemlan, Aytat, Kabr Chmoun, Dafoun, Ein Enoub, Bsaba, Deir Koubel, Souk el-Gharb, Baysour, Yetloun, Gaboun, Kafr Amyah, Tallet Shatra and the 888 hill.
Members of opposition parties Tawhid, Syrian Nationalist Socialist Party and Lebanese Democratic Party forced out Jumblatt’s PSP militiamen from the city of Sawfar as other members were surrendering their arms in the town of Kayfoun. Lebanese Democratic Party members of former Minister Talal Areslan and Tawhid Party members of former Minister Wiam Wahhab also controlled the town of Arroufiyeh and reached the town of Baaklin where they ordered PSP militiamen to lay down their arms and surrender.
In the Chweifat region, Opposition supporters and PSP militiamen fought fierce battles which eventually led to the surrender of Jumblatt’s gunmen in the town, Dawhat Aramoun and Bshamoun. AS it did in Beirut, when opposition supporters control an area, they hand it over to the Lebanese army. However, when army forces tried to enter the town of Chweifat, Jumblatt’s militiamen opened sniper fire at them.
SANIORA AND TEAM TO REVOKE BLACK DECISIONS MONDAY
Fouad Saniora announced that his ministerial team will hold a meeting upon the return of his acting Foreign Minister Tareq Mitri from an Arab meeting in Cairo. The unconstitutional cabinet will revoke its decision to remove airport security Chief Brigadier General Wafiq Shqeir and to consider Hezbollah’s communications network illegal. Saniora’s decisions, although warned against them even by some in his bloc, have led to the recent developments in Lebanon.
In the meantime, opposition sources told Al-Manar that revoking the decisions will not end a state of civil disobedience, pending the implementation of article 2 of the settlement it proposed; to start national dialogue. The ruling bloc is divided on Saniora’s move Monday. Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and some other “March 14” members don’t want dialogue, whereas Walid Jumblatt seems eager to end this matter. For his part, MP Saad Hariri is still waiting for instructions from Saudi Arabia which, according to sources, stopped Saniora from tendering his resignation on Friday.
Collapsed Hariri couldn’t make the visit to the Saudi embassy, so he dispatched his aide Mohamad Shatah who met with Ambassador Abdul Aziz Khoja. The source told Al-Manar that Riyadh was close to agree on Saniora’s resignation, but US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice interfered and stopped the process. She assured Saniora and promised his big Arab support during the ministerial meeting in Cairo Sunday as well as international backing Monday.
What’s next?
The fast fall of the ruling bloc is for sure and a new political era will start; an era that will have its repercussions on the regional stage, for sure. | 
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