Like Father, Like Son

Lebanon seems to have perfected the art of averting crisis. Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati formed a caretaker government last week, and gave assurances that parliamentary elections will be held by the May 31 constitutional deadline. At least for now that seems enough to head off another round of mass demonstrations planned by opposition leaders, who had accused the Syrian government of seeking to delay balloting that its Lebanese allies are almost certain to lose.

In a further sign of Syria's diminishing influence, Jamil al-Sayyed, Lebanon's feared pro-Syrian intelligence chief, and Ali Hajj, head of the country's internal security forces, stepped aside. Meanwhile, Syria was expected to complete the withdrawal of its 15,000 troops in Lebanon in time to win favorable comments in a United Nations report due out this week.

With a new political era dawning, citizens learned the name of the man who may be their future Prime Minister: Saad Hariri, son of Rafik Hariri, the billionaire tycoon and popular politician whose assassination on Feb. 14 triggered the mass protests and international pressure that forced Syria to pull out its forces.

Last week, the Hariri family formally announced that Saad, 35, one of Hariri's four sons from two marriages, would take up his late father's political role. Saad, who until now has run his father's business empire in Saudi Arabia, seems a virtual shoo-in for Prime Minister if he chooses to run. Many hope that Saad can finish the job of rebuilding and reuniting Lebanon his father began. "He is very capable and very serious," says Marwan Hamade, a leading opposition MP. "He has the knowledge and the guts. From where he is now, Rafik Hariri should be satisfied."