Druze Suspicious of Lebanon’s New President

In Chouaifete, a Druze town in the mountains about 6 1/2 miles south of central Beirut, the word on virtually everyone’s lips these days is istinfaar , Arabic for “on the alert.”

The reason: President Elias Hrawi’s determination to extend his authority over all Beirut, including Baabda, the Beirut suburb where the maverick Christian Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun is headquartered just south of Chouaifete.

Chouaifete has been in the front line of the war in Lebanon since it erupted in 1975. Last March, Aoun, one of two acting prime ministers and commander of the army, declared a “war of liberation” to drive out of Lebanon the Syrian troops that intervened in 1976 under an Arab League mandate and have been here ever since.

That led to six months of artillery warfare between Aoun’s troops and the Syrian forces. The people of Chouaifete had what amounted to a ringside seat.

In September, the Arab League brokered an agreement that brought a tenuous end to the fighting and called for Parliament to choose a new president to govern Lebanon. The man it chose was promptly assassinated, and Hrawi was elected to take his place.

Aoun has rejected all this as the work of “Syria’s stooges.”

On Tuesday, Hrawi dismissed Aoun as army commander and gave him 48 hours to get out of the presidential palace in Baabda. He threatened to use force if necessary to evict Aoun.

But Hrawi’s ultimatum was undermined the next day when thousands of Aoun’s supporters threw up a human shield around the palace. Hrawi, who like Aoun is a Maronite Christian, would have had to shed Christian blood to occupy the palace.

The situation now is possibly the most muddled since the outset of Lebanon’s woes more than a decade ago. The general stands firm in the presidential palace while the president receives official guests in an army barracks.

The Syrians, who are as anxious as anyone to get rid of Aoun, have sent in an additional 7,000 troops. Units in Chouaifete were among the first to be reinforced.

The Druze Progressive Socialist Party, which controls Chouaifete, supported the Syrians in the artillery war with Aoun’s forces. Now, the party’s militia has taken up combat positions but has encountered opposition from the least-expected quarter--the Syrians.

“We’ve been bringing in ammunition, but the Syrians are stopping us and taking it away,” a militiaman complained.

Syria is concerned that the Progressive Socialists, their principal ally in Lebanon, will renew the fighting and draw the Syrians in unwillingly. Syria is the No. 1 military power in Lebanon, but it wants to maintain its political leverage internationally. Hrawi has broad support in the Arab League and in the United States and other Western countries.

Little activity has been reported since Tuesday. One observer, who regards Syria as a pawn in an international struggle, said that “for the most part, the soldiers are playing trictrac (backgammon) and, back in Damascus (the Syrian capital), they are playing chess.”

The Druze families of Chouaifete insist they are going to stay put, no matter what happens.

“We are not afraid,” one woman said. “Mountain people, especially the Druze, are tough.”

A group that had come together Friday to discuss the situation included women as well as men, and the only man not in militia uniform was a religious sheik.

The 7,500 men of the Druze militia are the largest non-army force in Lebanon, although the Druze account for less than 6% of Lebanon’s 4 million people.