'To the shelters, it's Bush'

2004-11-04 09:26

Beirut - Lebanese newspapers warned on Thursday that the re-election of US President George W Bush would encourage him to pursue his radical policies in the Middle East, including military intervention.

"To the shelters, it's Bush," screamed the front page editorial of the leftwing As-Safir newspaper.

"The Americans did not wish to change their army commander in a period of war," it said.

"They did not hold him accountable on the so-called reasons (for the war) or its astronomical costs, but said: 'it is a war and we have to complete it,'" it said.

Lebanon's leading An-Nahar newspaper said Bush's re-election and the victory of the Republicans in Congress "will pave the way for Bush to draw up a conservative agenda."

Bush's victory will encourage him to "pursue the same foreign policies that he led in the last four years, particularly concerning the war on terrorism and Iraq."

Beirut and Damascus, the main power broker in Lebanon, have been under pressure from the Bush administration which has been seeking an end to the Syrian military presence in Lebanon and its interference in the domestic affairs of its neighbour.

- AFP