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Beirut: Military commanders often ride to power atop a tank. But in Lebanon, the key to army chief Michel Sulaiman's rise to the nation's top job has been keeping his men out of the fight.
Sulaiman hasn't taken sides in the long struggle for power
among Lebanon's feuding politicians, those allied with the
United States and the West and others backed by Syria and
Iran.
And that's what made him the compromise candidate for
Lebanon's top post, to which he was elected Sunday by
parliament. The spot had been empty since President Emile
Lahoud left office in November.
During his nine years as army commander, the 59-year-old
Suleiman has seen many crises. But he kept the army unified
through three years of political turmoil that have pushed
the country to the brink of all-out civil war. That has
earned him respect of both the majority and the opposition,
despite some occasional misgivings.
Sulaiman also kept the army out of sectarian street
fighting that erupted this month between Hezbollah's Shiite
supporters and pro-government Sunni loyalists in Beirut and
other areas.
That has kept the army unified. But some politicians in
the parliamentary majority have criticised the military for
watching as Hezbollah swept Sunni areas of Beirut.
Sulaiman defended the army's neutrality, saying his stance
is what prevented further bloodshed. The fighting resulted
in rival leaders striking a deal brokered by Qatar to elect
him and form a national unity Cabinet.
"By not resorting to the gun to preserve civil peace ...
it was meant to spare blood and prevent further split in
internal unity," Sulaiman said a statement issued last
week.
Sulaiman is the third military commander to become
president since Lebanon's independence from France in 1943.
Graduating as an officer five years before Lebanon's
1975-90 civil war, Sulaiman rose in the ranks to become
head of Lebanon's army in 1998. He was appointed then
because he was considered a supporter of Syria, which
dominated Lebanon for 29 years with thousands of troops
stationed there.
Sulaiman had also backed Lahoud, also an army commander, to be elected president.
But as Damascus' power diminished, SulAiman emerged more independent, earning respect from supporters of both Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and the opposition.
His reputation as a neutral protector began three years
ago, when massive street demonstrations against Syria's
rule were sparked by the assassination of former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri. Some blamed Syria for Hariri's
killing - a claim Damascus denies.
Sulaiman refused to use the military to put down the
rallies, which helped force Syria to withdraw its troops
and end its control over its tiny neighbour.
But since then sectarian tensions have increased, with
Sunni Muslims largely backing Siniora's anti-Syrian
government, Shiites supporting the pro-Syrian opposition
and Christians divided. That exploded into street fighting
earlier this month.
In January 2007, Suleiman imposed a curfew to put down a
flare-up of Sunni-Shiite clashes that killed 11 people.
He later earned admiration over the summer for the army's
defeat of Fatah Islam, an Al Qaida-inspired militant group
that fought in a Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp. The
battle left hundreds dead.
Sulaiman also sought to distance his military from
Hezbollah, while deftly continuing to support the militant
group's aim of defending Lebanon against Israel.
In 2006, he raised the country's flag on a ridge
overlooking the Israeli border and vowed to prohibit
attacks from Lebanon that could undermine the ceasefire
that ended the 34-day Hezbollah-Israel war.
But he is not without his detractors. The military,
lacking equipment, stayed on the sidelines of that war,
unable to counter either Israel or Hezbollah. Others
criticise the military of not doing enough to stop weapons
smuggling to Hezbollah along the Syrian border.
Suleiman warned recently that dragging Hezbollah into
internal battles would only serve Israel, which he
described as the "enemy."
Sulaiman is a Maronite Catholic. Lebanon's power-sharing
political system requires the president to be a Christian,
alongside a Sunni prime minister and Shiite parliament
speaker.
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