Lebanon: Key people and parties.

Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO): a political party recognised as “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people” by countries around the world who hold diplomatic relations with it.

Israel: as with many conflicts in the Middle East, the ongoing war along the Israeli-Lebanese border is part of a longer and altogether larger Arab-Israeli dispute. Relationships between Lebanon and Israel have always been strained, but the major flashpoints have occurred in 1978 , 1982, and 2006 (For more information see our Conflict Timeline)

Syria: the country has been both foe and friend to Lebanon. In 2005 Syria removed some 14,000 troops from Lebanon, easing the tension between these neighbours. In 2008 the two countries met for talks for the first time in 40 years.

Hassan Nasrallah: leader of the Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim militant group Hezbollah since 1992.

Hezbollah:  – or Party of God – is the region’s leading radical Islamic movement and emerged in Lebanon in the early 1980s. It is determined to drive Israeli troops from Lebanon. Hezbollah has embraced the Palestinian cause.

President Michel Suleiman: elected as President of Lebanon in May 2008. He is the former commander of Lebanese Armed Forces and has gained the trust of both Arab and Western countries.

Saad al-Hariri: the current Prime Minister is best known as the son of assassinated Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed by a car bomb in 2005.