(Guest blogger) A Lebanese paradise - but THE SITUATION intrudes

Fi left on Friday but I am here for another week, so I thought I should keep this blog going.

Important things first: the 2 baby birds grew up very fast and flew the nest on Friday, meaning from 4 living beings in (and just outside) the flat it is now just me on my ownsome. Also I can report that I have not yet tried the washing machine and therefore all my clothes are still ok but it is a matter of time before I put them on at
- too high/low a temperature
- the wrong setting
- or just the wrong clothes together so everything goes pink!

Work has been incredibly frustrating. We have been planning for various events and last week was the culmination of the summer in many respects. But everything was cancelled so weeks of hard work has gone down the drain. I very nearly took Friday off altogether to hit the beach and drown my sorrows but went in as usual...

The politics and the general SITUATION remains incredibly precarious. Everyone is talking about the SITUATION in shocked terms but to be honest I have started to get a bit fed up with it. Why not just cancel the whole summer and fast-forward to Christmas - I think sometimes the lovely Lebanese people need to stop worrying so much and get on with life. It isnt fun when you are worrying about getting blown up - god knows we had enough of it in London - but you still go to the cafe, pub, cinema, work (you can see my priorities in life) and just kind of hope it doesn't happen to you. Here everything is operating at half pace at best. Although this weekend there were some signs of life in the pubs on Friday. But when the local cinema hasn't changed its programme for 3 weeks (and yes I have already seen Spiderman 3 thank you) becuase they are worried nobody will come it becomes a self-fulfilling catastrophe. Ah well apparently not only Oceans 13 but Die Hard is coming next week (maybe we should put Bruce Willis in charge of sorting out this country as he seems to be able to take on all comers and come out well in the end).

I will try to summaries the SITUATION:

Nahr al-Bared: the Lebanese army is winning and won some major victories today. Hopefully it will be over this week. This is a VERY GOOD thing and frankly after hearing about what they did to the Lebanese conscripts they captured on the first day (the Lebanese Red Cross has some horrible photos), a quick death will be more than these fanatics deserve. Then there is only the worry of rehousing the poor Palestinians who have been kicked out of their homes (in 1948, 1967, and now in 2007), and hoping no other nutters are in the country waiting to start this all somewhere else.
Politics: the murder of the pro-government MP last week means only 3 more need to be killed or resign to get rid of the Majority. So the government has called 2 by-elections. But the (pro-Syrian) president has refused to sign the decree so who knows what will happen (elections will be early August). People are now talking about 2 governments here by end of July, as the President chooses his own. This seems unlikely and there have been some whiffs of willingness to negotiate on both sides prior to the assassination, so hopefully when tempers cool there might be some forward movement.
Bombs: Touch wood nothing of the random bomb variety for nearly a week now. Long may it last.
Israel: A catastrophe in Gaza, and we saw 2 rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon today, first time since the war last summer. Bad news, but they did not kill anyone, it was not Hizbullah (probably a Palestinian group) and Israeli retaliation was measured (5 artillery shells into open countryside - Israel perhaps learning from last year?).
Syria: Arming on the Golan Heights. Will it be peace or war this summer? Well I dont think either side is ready yet, but unless there is some forward movement on the 'Syrian track' at some point there will probably be a nasty war in the next 2 years.
The wider SITUATION is also dreadful. Bush is looking to do something about Iran, as possibly is Israel. Iran is playing the usual awkward and aggressive child. I have been studying the Middle East for 20 years and never felt things are as bad as they are today.

We all feel we are living on the front line of history at the moment. Lebanon is a little leaky dam holding back the seemingly unstoppable tidal wave of fanaticism, made worse by the Iraq fiasco. The leaks are getting bigger and the fingers in the dyke are getting very tired.

Anyway, I needed to get out of town this weekend so joined a group going up to Ehden, a resort town 1500 metres up in the northern mountains. A few drinkies last night and a read by the pool which was great - I am reading a book called Bad Lands - by the founder of Lonely Planet - which is a funny but depressing saunter through all the 'bad lands' in2006 (Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba (?), North Korea, Libya, Saudi etc) - it has actually inspired me to go to Iran!
This morning though we went on a walk through the Ehden Nature Reserve which is a beautiful forest full of rare plants and trees high above the town. The weather is just stunning at that height - cool breeze, no humidity but hot sun. We did a 3 and a half hour walk and sometimes you felt as though you were on a real holiday, it smelt of wild herbs and flowers, it was green and verdant, the views were amazing, and the cedars were looking as wonderful as ever.
But in the distance you could hear distinctly the shelling from Nahr al-Bared - 155mm shells just make a slight shudder in the air along with a deep boom. A long way , perhaps 20 miles, away, but definitely an ominous tone to the morning. I never thought when I went for this job that I would have experienced the sound of Lebanese army artillery, Israeli bombs, and terrorist bombs all within a year!
That's it for now - I am about to crack open a beer and watch some rubbish on TV. Fi is at Wembley Stadium watching Muse tonight...alright for some!