Bombs sour charm offensive

US Health Secretary Donna Shalala's recent tour of the country marked the longest visit by a senior American official since the 1980s. "I informed the new leadership how strongly we feel about them," she said. The White House said the visit underscores the importance the US attaches to an American-Lebanese "partnership."

But hopes of improved relations were shattered following Operation Desert Fox, in which the US and Britain fired missiles at Iraq for four consecutive days. "We condemn this attack against Iraq," Al-Hoss said in response, calling on the US and Britain to adopt a more impartial stance -- a reference to Israel.

Protest marches and sit-ins were held across the country. "The Americans do not have an even-handed policy and the attack against Iraq is a challenge to the whole Arab nation. We wish the US would deal with Israel in the same way it deals with Iraq," Ghazi Al-Assadi, a member of the Palestinian Popular Committee in Sidon, Lebanon, told Al-Ahram Weekly during a protest march in one of the refugee camps.

It was not long before anti-US sentiment grew even further. The Hizbullah resistance movement issued a veiled threat against the United States following an Israeli air raid that killed a Lebanese woman and her children in Janta near Baalbek two weeks ago. Nadwa Othman and her six children, three boys and three girls aged 3 to 11, died in the raid. An eighth civilian also died and three others were wounded. The sight of the mutilated bodies sparked a public outcry and thousands of mourners attended the funeral, denouncing Israel and its patron, the US.

"US President Bill Clinton is just as responsible as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the deaths," Sheikh Mohamed Yazbek, a Hizbullah official and the Lebanon representative of Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told the crowd who chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans. Yazbek also called on the American people to disavow their leaders and "if they do not, Hizbullah will consider them responsible along with their administration for the deaths of innocent civilians."

"Until now we have made a distinction between the people and the criminal administration," Yazbek told the crowd. Hizbullah has in the past insisted that American civilians had nothing to fear if they visited tourist sites in Baalbek. The US has repeatedly accused the group of anti-Western attacks in the 1980s -- accusations the group denies.

Hizbullah retaliated for the recent attack by launching Katyusha rockets into northern Israel, wounding 16 people and causing widespread damage. "We launched the Katyushas for the sake of our people," Hizbullah said. "We do not have any facilities near the farmhouse that Israeli warplanes targeted," he added.

Israel called the killings an accident and expressed sorrow. It said its warplanes were aiming at a Hizbullah training camp and a radio transmitter. But the explanation was rejected by Lebanon. An Israeli reconnaissance plane was flying over the area at low altitude at the time of the attack, giving the Israelis a clear view of their targets.

Al-Hoss, who filed a complaint with the UN, said the raid proved the double standards of international politics.

On Sunday, Israeli aircraft again raided suspected Hizbullah positions just north of Baalbek, injuring two women and three children. A Syrian soldier who happened to be walking in the area and a Hizbullah member were also injured slightly and admitted to a Baalbek hospital. The attack took place only a few hours before Hizbullah held a rally to commemorate the seven civilian deaths 12 days earlier. The rally was held as scheduled and participants vowed to retaliate against Israeli attacks.

Even before Operation Desert Fox and the carnage at Janta, opposition politicians and Hizbullah criticised the Lebanese government for cosying up to the US. Hizbullah, according to parliamentary sources, abstained from giving Al-Hoss' government a vote of confidence because the party believes the new government was accommodating US intervention. Hizbullah's Secretary-General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah expressed suspicion of the increasing US interest shown in Lebanon ever since Lahoud was elected president. "I want to see continued strong ties with Syria to counter US and Israeli efforts to weaken these links," Nasrallah said.

Hizbullah's official in south Lebanon, Sheikh Nabil Kawouk, told Al-Ahram Weekly Israel has been unable to rupture the Syrian-Lebanese peace track through military pressures. "Syrian-Lebanese unity has not been shattered by Israeli attacks. It is obvious that the policy of war and military pressure increases and strengthens the Lebanese tie [with Syria]. What the US wants now is to enter from the political and economic gate. The Israelis cannot do that but the Americans can. The US is trying to interfere in Lebanese politics and assist the Jewish state in promoting its proposal to withdraw conditionally from south Lebanon," Kawouk said.

The popular Lebanese daily As-Safir ran an editorial last week that said, "Hizbullah has been calling attention to the increased activity of the American ambassador and described it as dangerous." It added, "Hizbullah wants his activities limited and it is concerned about the extent to which the Americans can interfere here."

US Ambassador David Satterfield has been making high-profile visits to ministers as well as areas that were once off-limits to Americans, particularly south Lebanon. Satterfield talked about prospects for increased economic cooperation. "We are deeply engaged in efforts to promote Lebanese-American ties," Satterfield said.

Opposition deputy and former minister Walid Jumblat has also launched a scathing attack against the new government, describing it as the product of a coup backed by the US. "I think this government is openly pro-American. It is true that it was approved by Syria, which may have its own considerations that I do not know about, but I see some worrying indications," Jumblat said. "I have the right to be afraid," he added.

But some observers have downplayed Jumblat's remarks. Sources who preferred to remain anonymous said that Syria, rather than the US, has the final say in Lebanon. The attack against the US Embassy in Damascus was a sign, they said. The sources added that Damascus will not allow US influence to prevail in Lebanon.

The latest developments coincide with increased tension in the south. The Israeli cabinet has been discussing its Lebanon strategy following mounting calls for a troop withdrawal. There is no doubt the upcoming Israeli elections, scheduled for 17 May, will be the determining factor in the fate of the south. As political analyst Mohamed Suweid put it: "All options remain open in the south and the situation is more volatile than ever."