Hizbullah’s decline is a boon for Lebanon’s new government
But it will not be able to ignore the armed group entirely
THE BILLBOARDS are the same as before. Drive from the airport into Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, and leaders of Hizbullah, the armed Shia movement, smile down at you. One board depicts two backs draped in Iranian and Lebanese flags, the arm of the first wrapped around the shoulder of the second. Cars still carry portraits of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbullah leader Israel killed in a strike on Beirut in September. After his funeral on February 23rd, a huge shrine will be built where the road cuts through Hizbullah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs.
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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Militants disempowered”
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