New Pro-Syrian Cabinet Appointed

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri formed a new government on April 17, two days after resigning under Syrian pressure. The new 30-member cabinet, widely regarded as the most pro-Syrian since Syrian troops stormed into the Lebanese capital in 1990, dramatically cuts the number of Hariri's supporters, imperiling the economic reform process. After Hariri's resignation on April 15, there was widespread speculation that Damascus would appoint members of the mainstream Christian opposition, but none were included.

The cabinet reshuffling came amid escalating American warnings about Syrian involvement in Iraq.

Thousands of Protestors Demand Geagea's Release

An estimated 10,000 demonstrators marched from the seat of Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir in Bkirki to the seat of the Papal Nuncio in Harissa on April 21, demanding the release of jailed Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on the ninth anniversary of his imprisonment. Plainclothes intelligence agents were seen filming the protestors.

Geagea has been in prison since his arrest in connection with the 1994 bombing of the Saydet al-Najat Church. Though he was later acquitted, the government prosecuted him for a variety of other alleged wartime crimes and obtained several convictions in trials that were condemned by international human rights organizations.

The size of the demonstration reflected Christian dissatisfaction with the makeup of Lebanon's new cabinet. The inclusion of mainstream Christian political figures committed to Geagea's release was widely expected, but only staunchly pro-Syrian Christian elites were chosen for the 30-member cabinet.

13 Indicted for Restaurant Bombings

Thirteen suspects, including two noncommissioned army officers, were indicted April 21 for involvement in a series of attacks on American fast food franchises in Lebanon in recent months. The latest bombing occurred on April 5, when a stick of dynamite exploded inside a McDonald's outlet in the Dora district east of Beirut, injuring five people, including a seven-year-old girl. A much larger bomb, containing 121 pounds of TNT, was found by police in a car parked outside the restaurant. It failed to explode due to a faulty detonator. Most of the suspects were arrested at residences in Tripoli and Beirut. Authorities later said that the suspects confessed to being Islamic fundamentalists and may be linked to the Islamist group Usbat al-Ansar, which operates out of the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of Sidon.

The bombing was the second to take place against Western targets since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom and follows a string of earlier attacks on outlets of other American restaurants, including Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried chicken that began last year.