April 26, 2007 9:42

Heading for Trouble

This morning when I left Damascus, there were rumors of riots sparked by Syrian government interference in this week's parliamentary election. The unrest was limited to just a couple provincial cities and quickly put down by security forces.

On my way home to Beirut, the road was filled with tourist buses carrying Iraqi refugees day-tripping to Lebanon in order to renew their Syrian visas. With over a million Iraqi refugees in Syria, most of whom are given three-month visas when they arrive, this has become a big business for tour operators.

On the drive up the backside of the Mount Lebanon range, I saw two Lebanese army tank crews along the highway-- an unusual sight in of itself -- loading artillery shells. Their turrets pointed down into the Bekka valley in the direction of Syria, but also the direction from which an invading Israeli army would approach.

When I arrived in Beirut and went for a haircut, the whole barbershop was talking about the abduction of two kids -- a 25 year-old man and a 12 year-old boy -- possibly in revenge for the killing of a Shia Muslim man in a sectarian street riot in January or by some party hoping to re-ignite the rioting. Mike the barber kept asking me if there was going to be another war with Israel this summer.

Just a few moments ago, the government confirmed that the two kidnapped boys have been found dead.

--Andrew Lee Butters/Beirut