A rusted bullet-scarred bus was on display in Beirut on Friday for all to see what triggered the 15-year civil war three decades ago. «No to civil war,» someone had scribbled on a white board, put up for people to express their feelings on Friday's anniversary of the war's start. «I love Lebanon» another contributor wrote. Photos of death and destruction wrought by the civil war were also on display, according to AP. But only a handful of pro-government politicians, a few members of the public _ and scores of reporters _ attended the commemoration under a spring rain at Beirut's race track, which sits on a former crossing point on the Green Line that separated Beirut's Christian and Muslim sectors from 1975 to 1990. Almost no opposition supporters were present at the Friday's event _ likely because it was sponsored by pro-government forces. And the public, fed up with ongoing political tension and uncertainty, has lost enthusiasm over such commemorations. Lebanon is as divided today as it was 32 years ago and threats of another round of civil war loom over this small Mediterranean nation, home to 18 religious sects. A power struggle _ pitting Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora against the opposition, led by pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah _ has paralyzed the country since November. «Never since 1990 has the shadow of civil war been so present over us like today,» said Yussef Bazzi, a writer who fought in a secular nationalist militia during the war. «There are sections in the Lebanese society that are demonstrating hatred, malice and a willingness to exercise violence.» Sectarian tensions _ brewing since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005 _ are unnerving the Lebanese. Their fears are reinforced as rival politicians accuse each other of rearming. However, none of the major political parties _ including Hezbollah _ advocates going back to a time when kidnappings, car bombs, mortars and assassination were regularly used to subdue the other side. «We don't want civil war ... No one wants to burn down his country over political differences,» Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said last week. Still the tensions have turned violent on several occasions. Nine people have died in street clashes in December and January between pro- and anti-government groups. A shootout Friday between supporters of the two sides in a village in the central mountains overlooking Beirut left one person from each side injured, one by gunfire and another whipped by a pistol, police said. Tension has been rising in the past few weeks between followers of Druse leader Walid Jumblatt, a senior pro-government and anti-Syrian politician, and supporters of former Cabinet Minister Wiam Wahhab of the pro-Syrian opposition. The rusted, bullet-pocked bus on display in Beirut was the spark of the first civil war. On April 13, 1975, Christian gunmen ambushed the bus as it carried Palestinians, sparking reprisals that spiraled into warfare between Lebanon's Christians and Muslims, killing 150,000 people and caused US$25 billion in damage. Now the sectarian tensions are rearranged. Sunni Muslims largely back Saniora while Hezbollah enjoys wide support among Shiite Muslims. Christians and Druse are divided between the two camps. Most of the old faces _ or their sons and grandsons _ from the civil war are still in power. One of them, Karim Pakradouni, a leader of the Christian Phalange Party, attended Friday's commemoration. «I am responsible for and a participant in the war,» Karim Pakradouni told The Associated Press. He said at the outset, the civil war's aim was to prevent the resettlement of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, but the war turned into a «struggle for power» and dominance. «I regret having taken part in the war to acquire power. But I'm proud of taking part in it to prevent the resettlement of Palestinians in Lebanon,» said Pakradouni. Edmond Rabbath, 36, of the Amam group, a civic society volunteer organization, is pessimistic about his country's future. Unlike 30 years ago, he said, today's fight was between «two ideologies» _ one that adheres to Iran and Syria, he said, and the other to the West. Bazzi, the former militia fighter, said it was immature to blame the civil war solely on politicians and militia leaders. «The people are to blame too. No one is innocent in Lebanon,» he said. «In any civil war, the whole society is guilty _ there are fighters, there are witnesses and there are cheerleaders.» He believes the biggest danger facing Lebanon today is Hezbollah, both a political party and a militia that refuses to disarm because it considers itself a resistance movement against Israel. «Hezbollah wants to remain a militia for life and it glorifies death.» As for the past, Bazzi says the Lebanese people ought to forgive _ including the politicians _ but not forget. «I feel guilty because I didn't appreciate the value of Lebanon and took part in its destruction,» he said. . -- SPA
