Hariri seeks support for Lebanon

Caretaker PM heads home following talks in Turkey, two days after Hezbollah-led walkout led to fall of his government. Last Modified: 14 Jan 2011 10:04 GMT

The Hezbollah movement of Hassan Nasrallah, left, says it will nominate a leader with a history of 'resistance' [AFP] Saad Hariri, Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, is returning to Beirut after a stop in Turkey as part of an international tour to gather support following the collapse of his coalition government. Hariri had been visiting the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Friday for talks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister. The meeting followed separate talks with Barack Obama, the US president, in Washington, DC, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, in Paris. Hariri's tour was aimed at rallying support for his suffering March 14 alliance, a predominantly Sunni-Christian political coalition that has received the backing of Saudi Arabia and the West. His allies hold a majority in Lebanon's parliament. But the opposition March 8 alliance, led by Hezbollah, the mainly Shia Muslim nationalist group, brought his government down on Wednesday by leading 11 ministers to drop out of the 30-member cabinet. Michel Sleiman, Lebanon's president, has asked Hariri to remain as caretaker prime minister until the country's political crisis is resolved. Sleiman is currently polling members of parliament to determine who should be nominated as the next prime minister; the March 8 alliance has said it will not accept Hariri, whose coalition won a 2009 parliamentary election. Nabih Berri, the Lebanese parliament speaker, said Sleiman will launch formal talks on Monday to create a new government. Tribunal disagreements Lebanon's opposition March 8 alliance resigned from the cabinet over disagreements arising from a UN investigation into the 2005 assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister and Saad Hariri's father. There had been growing political tension in Lebanon amid signs that Hezbollah members could be indicted by the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). Hezbollah, which has denied any role in al-Hariri's assassination, has denounced the tribunal into the 2005 killing as an "Israeli project'' and urged al-Hariri to reject any findings by the court. Ten ministers tendered their resignations on Wednesday after reports that Hariri had refused their call to convene a cabinet meeting to discuss controversial issues including the investigation. In depth Profile: Rafiq al-Hariri Timeline: Al-Hariri investigation Focus: Lebanon simmers as Hezbollah braces itself Focus: Split remains over Hariri tribunal Inside Story: Hezbollah talks tough An eleventh member, Adnan Sayyed Hussein, later stood down from the cabinet, automatically bringing down Hariri's government. Edward Bell, an analyst for the Middle East and North Africa at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told Al Jazeera that Lebanon is likely to enter a stage of several months without any government while negotiations on its formation are held. "The external player with the best chance at diffusing the situation is Syria as it maintains contact with all parties, both inside and outside of Lebanon, and can apply pressure on Hezbollah to reach a consensus with other Lebanese parties," Bell said. Mohammed Raad, a Hezbollah MP, said that the party would nominate for the premiership a leader with "a history of resistance" when Sleiman attempts to start building a new government, but he stopped short of giving names. Hariri's bloc is expected to rule out the nomination of anyone other than the outgoing prime minister. "I do not see a government in the country without Saad al-Hariri," Boutros Harb, a parliamentarian close to Hariri, said. The standoff between Hariri's camp and Hezbollah over the STL has already paralysed the government for months and sparked concerns of sectarian violence similar to the one that brought the country close to civil war in May 2008.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies