Google Doodle Celebrates Lebanon's Independence with 'Dabke'

Google celebrated the 71st anniversary of Independence Day of Lebanon on Saturday, with a homepage doodle featuring dancers performing the traditional folk dance called dabke.

The Lebanese government has decided to cancel Independence Day celebrations for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war because of the country's presidential vacuum.

Lebanon was due to mark the 71st anniversary of its independence on Saturday with a parade involving all the country's security forces.

The Lebanese Independence Day is a national day celebrated in remembrance of the 1943 liberation from the French Mandate which was exercised over Lebanese soil for over 23 years.

The cancellation is the first since the end of the civil war, and comes amid a stalemate over the election of a successor to President Michel Suleiman, who stepped down in May.

The day is usually marked with a speech to the nation by the president on the eve of the holiday and a military parade on the day itself in Beirut, attended by the country's political leadership.

The decision to cancel the celebrations was also reportedly influenced by an ongoing crisis involving the kidnapping of several security forces by jihadists.

The men -- soldiers and police -- have been held since August, when jihadists from the conflict in Syria briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal, on the Lebanese border.

Three hostages have already been killed by their captors, and the country has been on edge for months over the fate of the remaining soldiers and policemen.

Lebanon is deeply divided over the war in Syria.