Perspective: Shi'ites Push for Power After Lebanon War

The Shi'ite Hezbollah militia marches in Beirut. At one-third of the population, Shi'ites are Lebanon's largest sect, but ruled by a Sunni government.

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Iraq's Shiites owe their new power over the government to the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein nearly four years ago. Many Lebanese Shiites would similarly like Israel's summer war with Hezbollah to be the seed of their political ascendancy.

Hezbollah's performance against a far superior Israeli army has bolstered the militia's standing within Lebanon's Shiite community, and across the Arab world.

Now, filling the center of Beirut with daily rallies, Hezbollah is pressing for a larger say in the running of Lebanon and an end to the Shiites' history of being poor and oppressed.

"Hezbollah wants to change the political role of the Shiites from being led to leading and having a greater influence on decision-making," said Magnus Ranstorp, a Middle East expert who monitors the Lebanese group.

However, granting Shiites more power could mean rearranging the delicate political balance struck to bring an end to Lebanon's 15 years of civil war in 1990. And Christians and Sunni Muslims -- some of them deeply upset that Hezbollah provoked the summer war by capturing two Israeli soldiers on Israel's own territory -- strongly oppose any such change.

Some fear the push for more Shiite power could re-ignite the civil war.

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