On my first night in Lebanon, there are fireworks and a ruckus. A local by-election has just been held in a Christian area of Beirut. The two candidates were the sister and the uncle of the Interior Minister. When the votes were first counted, the Minister's father claimed that his daughter had won. His brother contested the result, and now he has won. The fireworks are the uncle's supporters', the ruckus his niece's.

LRB 23 January 2003 | PDF Download