Lebanon Video Report

Syrian troops are gone, but the shadow remains.

Note: This is a transcript of Kevin Sites' video summary package from Lebanon. You can watch the video or, if you are having trouble with the video player, read the transcript here.

KEVIN SITES (ON CAMERA):
It was here between these two buildings that former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed by a massive car bomb along with 20 other people ten months ago. Now an initial UN investigation seems to point the evidence towards Syrian officials.

Millions of Lebanese took to the streets to protest the killing, finally forcing Syrian troops to leave Lebanon after 30 years, but the violence has not left with them.

KEVIN SITES (VOICE-OVER):
Here in Martryr's Square lies the grave of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, who was controversial in life for both working closely with

But Hariri became a critic of Syrian influence over Lebanon, and that may have cost him his life.

AHMAD, LEBANESE UNIVERSITY STUDENT (ON CAMERA):
"They didn't kill Hariri for what Hariri was. They killed him because of the symbols and what he represented in Lebanon and worldwide."

KEVIN SITES (VOICE-OVER):
Now he is almost deified here as the man whose death sparked the "Cedar Revolution," the democratic rallies that helped pressure Syrian troops to leave.

But the killings haven't stopped with Hariri. There have been other political assassinations, most recently the December 12th murder of Gibran Tueni, a journalist, lawmaker and harsh critic of Syria.

KEVIN SITES (ON CAMERA):
On the morning he was killed, Gibran Tueni was driving to work on that road behind me. A remote control car bomb was detonated, blowing his vehicle over the cliff. It tumbled about 100 feet down to the street below.

KEVIN SITES (VOICE-OVER): For many Lebanese the recent violence, although limited, is a frightening flashback to the death and destruction of the 15-year civil war that literally tore the nation in two.

And the political repercussions have brought the Lebanese government to a virtual shutdown.

Pro-Syrian supporters, Hezbollah and the Shia Amal parties, walked out on the government coalition in protest of the growing criticism against Syria.

But now a strange alliance could bring the government back on line, in a deal with Christian leader, former Lebanese General and Prime Minister Michele Aoun and Hezbollah.

Aoun was literally bombed out of the presidential palace by Syrian jets in the early 90s, and just recently returned to Lebanon when the Syrians left, after a 15-year exile in France.

MICHEL AOUN, FORMER LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER (ON-CAMERA):
"If we don't reach an agreement we have to manage our differences to let the country live."

KEVIN SITES (VOICE-OVER): And managing their differences is going to be a full-time job for all the factions if Lebanon's future is going to be significantly different from its violent past.

KEVIN SITES (ON-CAMERA):
Now that both the civil war has ended and Syrian troops are gone Lebanon is on the brink of a new era. But many people here feel certain the shadow of Syrian involvement still looms over the nation, and will continue to do so without international protection.

Reporting from the Hot Zone -- I'm Kevin Sites in Beirut, Lebanon.

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