Pressure

Future TV reports from eyewitnesses that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence agents have been conscripting participants for today's pro-Syria protest from villages in the north of Lebanon. Residents who have evaded pressure have also been pursued by units of the Lebanese army and handed over to Lebanese or Syrian intelligence, according to these reports. The village that Future TV focused on was Akkar (near the border with Syria), but eyewitnesses from other villages are reporting similar stories as well. As part of the same story, Future TV also reports busloads of Syrian nationals coming across the northern border to attend the Hizbullah-organized demonstration to be held in downtown Beirut alongside opposition protests.

Akkar, like Tripoli and Zharta, is one of the more pro-Syrian areas in Lebanon, so it seems a bit unusual that the government should be using such measures to convince people to attend a pro-Syria rally. If the people there are so enamoured with Syria, they should just feel that it is their patriotic duty to attend, and that should be the end of it. If this story is true, it means that there may exist substantial resistance even within the pro-Syria community in Lebanon regarding the government's chosen tactics for self-preservation. Today will indeed be a very interesting day in Lebanon.

More updates throughout the day.