Hezbollah and its allies are again apparently the big winners in the latest round of struggling over political power in Lebanon. Nothing is official yet, but insiders say Hezbollah's main Christian ally, the group led by lawmaker Michel Aoun (below right), will likely have a significant share of government posts in the next government. 'Formally, the Christian group in the opposition has won important portfolios, but it is still Hezbollah, and through it Iran, which have the upper hand,' said Ali Al-Amine, a Beirut-based political analyst and editor of a local newspaper.
A high-profile accord brokered in Qatar last May among Lebanese political players ended an escalating armed conflict and led to the nomination of a long-awaited president. The deal gave the Hezbollah-led opposition and Hassan Nasrallah veto power over government decisions in the next government.