Hard road back for displaced Lebanese

By Jim Muir
BBC News, Tyre

The road back to Tyre is strewn with craters and packed with traffic.

The mass exodus which drained the population of south Lebanon over the past month of unbridled violence has gone into reverse.

Thousands of displaced southerners are converging on Tyre from the north despite the continuing Israeli presence and unstable truce.

The main coast road leading into Tyre from the improvised crossing on the Litani river - the natural boundary of the south Lebanon border area - has been clogged.

A constant stream of cars, vans, trucks and buses has been lurching past vast craters punched in the road by Israeli bombs.

Packed with families, most vehicles had piles of foam mattresses strapped on their roofs.

Many of the displaced fled with few possessions and do not know what they are returning to. If their homes are in ruins, at least they will have something to sleep on.

"I came back because this is where I belong, the place I grew up in," said student Ali Ruz, 22.

All the time I was away, I kept asking myself - why did I leave? Ali Ruz Student

He returned with his parents, brother and sister after spending the past month sheltering in the town of Baaqalin in the Druze-controlled Shouf mountains.

"The Druze were very hospitable to us, but all the time I was away, I kept asking myself, Why did I leave?" he said.

Many of the vehicles waved the yellow flag of Hezbollah or sported posters of its leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. The atmosphere was jubilant. Some people gave victory signals as they waved to onlookers.

"Israel is war criminals, and must be punished hard!" shouted one defiant driver.

Fragile truce

The influx began within hours of the ceasefire coming into effect at 0800 local time (0500 GMT) on Monday, despite the fact that nobody knew if the truce would hold.

Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters remain jumbled up in the hills and valleys to the south and east of Tyre.

There is no clear battlefront and in many areas, Hezbollah guerrillas are behind Israeli lines.

But the few incidents that have occurred - Israel saying it had shot several Hezbollah guerrillas on Monday, and that mortars had been fired at its forces in Lebanon early Tuesday - have been played down by both sides.

There is a strong sense that both want the truce to hold, and regard the hostilities as a closed chapter even if the underlying conflict remains unresolved.

At least for now, neither seems inclined to seize on random incidents to launch another escalation.

The mass return of the displaced also came in defiance of leaflets dropped by Israeli warplanes on Tuesday warning people to stay away.

"The situation in south Lebanon will remain dangerous until the Lebanese Army and international forces deploy throughout the south," it warned.

"For your own safety, we warn you not to return to the south before the deployment of the forces that are supposed to preserve your security in those areas," it said.

"Nobody will pay any attention to the leaflet," said Ali Ruz, standing alongside a queue of vehicles making their way southwards into Tyre.

Reconstruction

Both Hezbollah and its political ally, the mainstream Shia movement Amal, headed by parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, have urged people to return to their homes.

In a televised address on Monday night, Hassan Nasrallah said the movement would put the same energy, planning and dedication into the reconstruction effort as it had into fighting the Israelis.

HAVE YOUR SAY With one side achieving its aims and the other not, peace will not last. Jeff Smith, United Kingdom Send us your views In pictures: Lebanese return

He said Hezbollah would pay for the rebuilding of the 15,000 homes it estimates have been totally destroyed, and in the meantime, would pay for the homeless to rent properties for a year.

Repairable premises would be fixed up by the Islamic movement, he promised.

Hezbollah is clearly aiming to renew its claim to the hearts and minds of its followers in the battered Shia community, and to continue providing social and economic services normally the prerogative and duty of the state.

That will be vital if it is to stay alive as a major force in the community and in national politics, especially if the border issues with Israel are resolved and the Lebanese government's plan for state authority to be restored goes ahead, with Hezbollah under pressure to lay aside its arms.