The tension is rising...

It all seems to be going down to the wire here at the moment. The various factions are seemingly unable to agree on a list of candidates for MPs to vote on, and at present it looks like the Parliamentary session scheduled for tomorrow will be postponed until Friday, the really, really, really last day before Lahoud has to step down. There are about 10,000 soldiers on duty in Beirut to prevent civil disorder. A lot of them seemed to think it was a good idea to drive their tanks underneath our bedroom window at about midnight last night, making sleep pretty hard to come by as we then had a huge electical storm for a couple of hours (the one that has caused all the flooding in Greece - we seem to be getting the tail end of it though, thankfully). Then this morning I noticed that a large RPG seemed to have taken up residence outside Costa Coffee at Sassine Square. Thankfully though its extended stay seemed to be more due to a traffic jam rather than a concern that mild-mannered coffee drinkers might suddenly start rioting.

Personally though, and for what it's worth, I would carry on with the session as planned tomorrow, the weather forecast is atrocious, and in my opinion and experience, people are less likely to riot in the rain. However, seeing as the politicians have had two months to come to some sort of agreement, and have completely failed to do so, any sort of solution may be sadly lacking come tomorrow or Friday (it is Lebanon's national day on Thursday so it's a holiday - the only one of two in a year that businesses have to observe).

Watch this (and many other internet sites') space...