Spilling over?

Television coverage of the Syrian crisis continues to be dominated by pictures of injured people in Homs. Mohammed is spellbound. The 21-year-old has been hiding for months in the small town of Irsal. He deserted the Syrian army and, while fleeing to Lebanon, stepped on a mine and was seriously injured. His right leg had to be amputated below the knee. The former solider is afraid of being caught and hides his face behind a scarf.

"I pray to God that I will be healthy again so I can return and fight together with other activists," he told DW. "But my psychological condition isn't very good. Children are dying in Syria while I observe from far away and have to hide."

Mohammed's room serves as both a living room and bedroom. It is sparely furnished. Air mattresses are scattered along a rug on the floor. In the middle of the room is a small, black oil-burning stove that provides a comforting heat. A colorful curtain separates the room from the kitchen and bathroom.

Important transit point

An Irsal resident offered this small home to the young Syrian. Around 100 Syrian families currently live in the town. They've come from neighboring villages in Syria and from Homs, which is only 45 kilometers (28 miles) away. Irsal has meanwhile become an important transit point for wounded Syrians who are smuggled over the border to Lebanon.

The city, with a population of about 40,000, is located at the foot of the Antilibanon Mountain range only kilometers from the Syrian border. All of the residents are Sunnis and most of them side with Syrian activists. The city council is comprised solely of veterans of the Future Movement, the strongest Sunni force in the country, which is led by Saad al-Hariri.

But the council doesn't receive any financial support from this group to help cover the cost of housing the Syrian refugees. Both the mayor of Irsal and the leaders of the Future Movement in the city have declared that all relief for the refugees must come from donations. Some of the residents are volunteering their services, such as Ali, who asked to otherwise remain anonymous.

"Men who help transport injured Syrians over the border call me. I go to the border, administer first aid and then contact the Red Cross, which then moves the wounded to hospital in Tripoli," he told DW. "In the past 10 days, the number of injured people has grown significantly - every day between 10 and 12. It's particularly bad on the weekends, with 15 last alone on Friday. Nearly all of them have gun wounds in their arms, chest or legs."

Lebanese authorities constantly try to intimidate and investigate Irsal residents who support the Syrian refugees. They also try to arrest the refugees. But the government is avoiding an open confrontation with its citizens.

Difficult balancing act

The situation in Isral is an example of the difficult balancing act that Lebanon is trying to perform since the Syrian government crackdown. The government in Beirut, which is made up of the pro-Syrian March 8 alliance and some Sunni politicians aligned with the businessman and Minister President Naschib Mikati, demonstratively ignores the regular border violations of the Syrian army. It has also failed to protest the deployment of landmines along the northern border. Yet the government tolerates thousands of Syrian refugees and has even partly funded care for the injured.

Kassim Qassir doesn't see a contradiction in the Lebanese government's dealing with Syrians. The journalist and Lebanon expert points to a consensus among local, regional and international forces that are determined to maintain stability in the country.

"Currently, all sides are interested in protecting Lebanon because they need the country. The political forces opposed to the Assad regime need the country to support the Syrian opposition from here," Qassir said.

"The March 8 alliance also politically supports the regime in Syria. Lebanon is practically the only country in the Arab League and the UN to side with Damascus. As long as the crisis remains undecided in Syria, the situation in Lebanon will remain peaceful. Should, however, the current situation lead to an outright civil war or some other dramatic change should occur like a coup, then Lebanon will face some serious problems."

It remains to be seen, however, how long the fragile stability in Lebanon will last. The most recent flare-up of the old feud between the Sunni and Alawite neighborhoods in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli - with the one group supporting the Syrian insurgency and the other the Assad regime - could be stopped. But it could also flare up again.

Something is already brewing. At the memorial for the murdered Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in mid-February, nearly the entire Lebanese opposition showed its solidarity with the Syrian National Council, the largest group within the Syrian opposition. Indeed, Lebanon could be in for some tough times.

Author: Mona Naggar / jrb
Editor: Rob Mudge