By Robert Fisk in Beirut , Walid Jumblatt may be one of the more charismatic figures in Lebanese political life but when he tells his people to avoid violence, they do as they are told. And so another sectarian killing – the murder of a 12-year-old Sunni boy and his neighbour, their bodies dumped outside Sidon on Thursday night – was transformed into a reminder that the post-civil war Lebanese can remain united.
Both boys were associated with Mr Jumblatt’s largely Druze Progressive Socialist Party but he was the first to call for a government inquiry.Ziad Ghandour and Ziad Qabalan were "martyrs for national unity”, he said alongside members of the Sunni and Shia clergy. "Let’s keep this away from politics, let the judicious process take its course and stop the malicious rumour-mongering.”
Mr Jumblatt even held out a hand to his Hizbollah opposition, thanking them for denouncing the murders and claiming that both himself and Hizbollah were "united by a struggle and resistance (to Israel)”.The Christian ex-president Amin Jemayel, whose politician son Pierre was assassinated in November, even hoped that these recent killings might persuade government ministers and Hizbollah to return to talks after months of crisis following the withdrawal of Shia ministers from the cabinet.The week’s murders have thus again proved that Lebanon can resist the anger of civil conflict. But there had better be no more.
Please Click READ MORE to view more PICTURES
Lebanese youths sporting images of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war and wrapped in a Lebanese flag, take part in a peaceful sit-in in Beirut, 10 April 2007. Seventeen years after the end of Lebanon’s civil war, history textbooks in schools still do not tackle the controversial strife which continues to blight political life in a country where the past is ever-present.(AFP/File/Joseph Barrak)
AFP/File via Yahoo! News – Apr 25 9:00 AM
Lebanese youths, sporting images of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war and wrapped in a Lebanese flag, take part in a peaceful sit-in in Beirut, 10 April 2007. Seventeen years after the end of Lebanon’s civil war, history textbooks in schools still do not tackle the controversial strife which continues to blight political life in a country where the past is ever-present.
Lebanese soldiers secure the area, in the west Beirut neighborhood of Wata al-Mseitbeh, Lebanon Thursday, April 26, 2007. The military and police have launched a nationwide manhunt for two Lebanese feared kidnapped in an incident that has heightened fears of renewed sectarian violence in this divided country, officials said Thursday. Ziad Qabalan, 25, and Ziad Ghandour, 12, disappeared on Monday after they left their homes in the West Beirut district. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)
AP via Yahoo! News – Apr 26 5:50 AM
A Lebanese soldier secures the area, in the west Beirut neighborhood of Wata al-Mseitbeh, Lebanon Thursday, April 26, 2007. The military and police have launched a nationwide manhunt for two Lebanese feared kidnapped in an incident that has heightened fears of renewed sectarian violence in this divided country, officials said Thursday. Ziad Qabalan, 25, and Ziad Ghandour, 12, disappeared on Monday after they left their homes in the West Beirut district. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)
Reuters via Yahoo! News – Apr 27 6:29 AM
Relatives of two slain Muslims mourn and carry coffins during a funeral procession in Beirut, April 27, 2007. Lebanese mourners on Friday buried two Sunni Muslims, including a 12-year-old boy, slain in a murder reminiscent of the sectarian bloodshed of the civil war as leaders tried to quell anger to prevent revenge attacks. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON)
Reuters via Yahoo! News – Apr 27 6:37 AM
Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt (C) takes part in a funeral procession for two slain Muslims in Beirut April 27, 2007. Lebanese mourners held a funeral on Friday for two Sunni Muslims slain this week in an attack linked to sectarian tensions but leaders called for calm and said there deaths should not be politicised. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON)
A mourner fires his gun as another carries a picture of slain Ziad Ghandour during a funeral procession in Beirut April 27, 2007. Lebanese mourners held a funeral on Friday for two Sunni Muslims slain this week in an attack linked to sectarian tensions but leaders called for calm and said their deaths should not be politicised. REUTERS/Sharif Harim (LEBANON)
Reuters via Yahoo! News – Apr 27 6:28 AM
The mother of Ziad Ghandour holds his photograph in Beirut April 26, 2007. Lebanese police found on Thursday, the bodies of a Sunni Muslim government supporter and the 12-year-old boy, Ghandour, whose abduction earlier this week was linked to Lebanon’s rising sectarian tension. (Hussam Shbaro/Reuters)
Relatives of two slain Muslims mourn as they carry a coffin during a funeral procession in Beirut April 27, 2007. Lebanese mourners held a funeral on Friday for two Sunni Muslims slain this week in an attack linked to sectarian tensions but leaders called for calm and said there deaths should not be politicised. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON)
A friend of Ziad Ghandour holds his photograph during a sit-in protest in Beirut April 26, 2007. Lebanese police found on Thursday, the bodies of a Sunni Muslim government supporter and the 12-year-old boy, Ghandour, whose abduction earlier this week was linked to Lebanon’s rising sectarian tension. REUTERS/Hussam Shbaro (LEBANON)
Mourners react as they carry the coffin of Ziad Qabalan, 25, whose body was found on the side of a road near the southern port of Sidon on Thursday, four days after he disappeared with his neighbor, during his funeral in the West Beirut district of Wata al-Mseitbeh, Lebanon Friday, April 27, 2007. Several thousand people bid farewell Friday to a man and a 12-year-old boy whose murder shocked Lebanon and caused rival political leaders to reach out to each other to stop the country from reverting to the sectarian bloodshed of its past. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Mourners react as they carry the coffin of Ziad Qabalan, 25, whose body was found on the side of a road near the southern port of Sidon on Thursday, four days after he disappeared with his neighbor, during his funeral in the West
