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"Christians are not at all keen to be drawn into the fighting and what happened in west Beirut cannot be repeated in (predominantly Christian) east Beirut," said pro-government figure George Adwan. Adwan, deputy leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces party, explained told AFP that Christian camps in the opposition and in the ruling majority “are convinced that they should not pay the price of the coup led by the Hezbollah." Adwan was referring to the seizure of mainly Muslim west Beirut by the powerful Shiite militant group whose fighters overran pro-government forces in fighting that has left almost 60 people dead in six days and fanned fears for the future of the already divided nation.
Christians in the multi-confessional Mediterranean country were left weakened after the 1975-1990 civil war and the community has splintered further in the aftermath of the 2005 killing of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. Divisions have since widened in the long-running feud between pro- and anti-Syrian politicians that has prevented the election of a new president in Lebanon, the only Arab country with a Christian head of state. Several key Christian leaders sit firmly in the ruling majority camp which is backed by the West and heavyweight Sunni Muslim-ruled Arab countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. However, Michel Aoun, an outspoken former wartime army chief and one of Lebanon's most prominent Christian politicians, is allied with the Shiite Hezbollah-led opposition supported by Syria and Iran.
The deadly sectarian fighting which erupted last Wednesday has paralysed businesses, kept schools shut nationwide, blockaded major highways and forced the closure of the country's only international airport and the Beirut port. But in Christian areas away from the fighting, it is almost business as usual with several shops and cafes open.
"The Christians don't have the capacity to engage in combat because they lack the weapons and because the real force on the ground is Hezbollah and the (ruling Sunni) Future Movement," said analyst Ousama Safa. Christians are keeping their distance to avoid a repetition of the so-called "war of elimination" that pitted the Aoun-led army against the Lebanese Forces militia of Samir Geagea, Safa said. Ibrahim Kanaan, an MP from Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, said the Christian leader backed the political stance of his pro-Syrian allies but decided not to join in the fighting. The Christian factions in the ruling Sunni-led coalition welcomed Aoun's decision with relief "because everyone is aware of the danger on the ground," Kanaan said.
Lebanon, home to 18 religious sects, has not held a census since 1932 when Christians accounted for 54 percent of the population. More than three quarters of a century later, the Christians are estimated to number only 36 percent of Lebanon's four million inhabitants, while Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims represent about 29 percent each.
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