Lebanon's ex-prime minister Saad Hariri arrived home in the middle of a hectic race by Hizballah's leader Hassan Nasrallah to install an alternative pro-Iranian-Syrian government in order to fend off indictments against his top officials for the murder of Saad Hariri's father six years ago. Hizballah believes a bloodless coup through parliament will enable him to invalidate the Special Lebanese Tribunal, whose prosecutor is expected to hand his findings to the pre-trial judge momentarily.
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Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been overthrown in a military coup. Friday, Jan. 14 he fled his riot-stricken country in the middle of his fifth term as president, handing interim authority to Prime Minister Mohammad Ghannoushi.DEBKAfile's sources report the real power in the land is the army.
Arab regimes were dismayed by the fall of the Tunisian president, the first Arab ruler to be overthrown by street demonstrations making way for a military coup. Tourists are being evacuated and European flights to Tunis cancelled.
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Backed from Tehran, Hizballah and its Christian ally Michel Aoun abruptly quit the Lebanese unity government Wednesday, Jan. 12, to pave the way for their seizure of power in Beirut. They struck as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's prosecutor prepared to hand over "within hours or days" indictments naming Hizballah officials in the Hariri assassination. The US and France are bolstering their naval units ready for a showdown over Beirut. Israel is on standby.
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