A renowned journalist is considering moving abroad and a wealthy minister is in the market for a state-of-the-art bomb detector, as fears of a "hit list" do the rounds in Beirut following a spate of assassinations.
Such are the rumours buzzing through newsrooms and coffee shops about anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon, as people wonder whose names could be on the list after three politicians and a journalist were killed in unclaimed attacks since February.
Anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon have pointed the finger at Damascus and pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud for covering up a plot to assassinate those who speak out against Syria, which in April ended a 29-year military presence in its smaller neighbour.
"I know that a list of men to assassinate is circulating ... I don't know which names are on the list," said dyed-in-the-wool anti-Syrian politician and new member of parliament, Elias Attallah.
Attallah heads the Democratic Left party and was among those who organised peaceful demonstrations to call for Syrian troops to leave in the wake of a February bomb blast on the Beirut seafront that killed ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri and fatally wounded former minister Bassel Fleyhan.
"I don't know if mine is written on it, but it would be an honor for me to be one of the likely targets for enemies of democracy," the 59-year-old said.
He is not the only one who is convinced that a list of people "to eliminate" is circulating somewhere.
Nabil Hawi, brother of former Communist leader George Hawi who was killed earlier this week in a car bombing, told a radio reporter that "George had in his possession a list of political figures to eliminate but he did not divulge it."
Hawi was pro-Syrian during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war but became outspoken against Damascus after Hariri's murder.
The anti-Syrian movement lost another of its advocates on June 2 when journalist and author Samir Kassir was killed in a car bomb explosion outside his Beirut home.
The Democratic Left has accused Damascus of being behind the plots to murder its leaders.
The series of killings has led the United States to increase pressure on Syria, with administration officials saying they suspect Syrian intelligence operatives are still in Lebanon.
The United Nations has pledged to investigate whether or not Syria has completely withdrawn from Lebanon.
A UN envoy visited Damascus earlier this month, and gained assurances from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he was committed to working with the United Nations and all parties to implement fully Security Council Resolution 1559 on its pullout from Lebanon.
Syrian and pro-Syrian Lebanese officials have denied any involvement in the killings.
Attallah and others in his camp have blamed "the Syrian-Lebanese police regime, protected by President Lahoud" for the string of murders, an accusation that was renewed after Hawi's death and accompanied by the usual calls for Emile Lahoud to resign.
In September, Damascus pressured Lebanon to extend Lahoud's mandate by three years, sparking a political crisis.
The extension "was the beginning of a series of terrorist acts which will only end once (Lahoud) is out of office," said Attallah.
Druze chief Walid Jumblatt calls former minister Marwan Hamade "the living martyr," because he escaped after an attempt on his life in an October car bombing.
But Jumblatt is not sure he will be so lucky.
On Thursday, he called on new members of parliament, which now will be dominated by anti-Syrian politicians for the first time since the civil war following four-stage elections launched in late May, "to take precautions."
Jumblatt believes he is under threat, and has stayed largely confined to his palace in the Shuf mountains, southeast of Beirut, since his friend and ally Hariri was killed.
He raised eyebrows in Lebanon when on Wednesday he called on his followers to remain peaceful and not retaliate should he be assassinated.
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