BEIRUT- Outraged Lebanese condemned Ariel Sharon's election as Israel's new Prime Minister, saying he should be tried for orchestrating the 1982 invasion of their country and killing Palestinians.
"In any decent country, this man should not become Prime Minister. He should be tried as a war criminal," said Kamal Ibrahim, aged 61, whose wife and three children died during Israel's 1982 bombardment of Beirut.
"If there is international law, if there is justice in the world and respect for human rights, this man must be executed."
As defence minister, Sharon was the architect and spearhead of Israel's invasion, which killed about 30,000 civilians at the height of the 1975-90 Lebanon civil war.
His reputation was further stained when an Israeli inquiry found him indirectly responsible for a massacre of hundreds of Palestinian refugees by Israel's Lebanese Christian militia allies at the Sabra and Shatila camps outside Beirut.
Many of the Palestinians and Lebanese who lived through the traumatising invasion huddled together yesterday to watch live broadcasts of the Israeli poll, incredulous that the Israelis seemed to have chosen the man Arabs revile most as Prime Minister.
"Look at these people, they are applauding for war," said Palestinian Othman Ibrahim, 28, as he watched Likud supporters cheering for Sharon.
"These elections show that whoever kills more Palestinians wins," said Abdallah Salhani, 77, a survivor of the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
"Sharon has been exposed as a war criminal, so what hope do we have as Palestinians?"
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has predicted an ominous future for the Middle East with Sharon in office.
But Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrilla group, revered by Arabs for ending Israel's 22-year occupation of south Lebanon in May, said Sharon and Barak were cut from the same cloth.
"They are both butchers but the difference between them is that Sharon is a butcher in wolf's clothing and Barak is a butcher in sheep's clothing," Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Kassem said.
Future Television, owned by Hariri, interrupted programmes to flash initial poll results.
In the Palestinian camps, the election brought back painful memories for the survivors of the invasion and massacre, among them 91-year-old Hamideh Mahmoudy, of Shatila.
Many talked about the loved ones they lost and about how Sharon's name was synonymous with terror in the refugee camps.
"He is a butcher and can a butcher possibly change?" asked 40-year-old Palestinian Mohammad Afifi. "He is a reflection of the real image of Israel, he is a shame on his people. By voting for him, they have exposed their true colours."
Afifi, like many Palestinians, argued that Sharon could be good for the Palestinian quest for independence.
"His terrorist image will make the world sympathise with us,"
- REUTERS
Herald Online feature: Middle East
Map
UN: Information on the Question of Palestine
Israel's Permanent Mission to the UN
Palestine's Permanent Observer Mission to the UN
Middle East Daily
Arabic News
Arabic Media Internet Network
Jerusalem Post
Israel Wire
US Department of State - Middle East Peace Process
Justice must execute Sharon as a war criminal, say Lebanese
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
