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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Hezbollah-backed Mikati set to lead Lebanon |
| 2011-01-25 |
[Emirates 24/7] Lebanese telecoms tycoon Najib Mikati, who is backed by Hezbullies and its allies, was set to lead a new government on Monday after winning support from Druze leader Walid WallyJumblatt. ... who's been on every side in Leb at least four times... But caretaker Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri said he and his Future Movement would not take part in a government where the Hezbullies has the upper hand. Leb was plunged into political crisis after Hezbullies and its allies walked out of Hariri's unity government on January 12 in a dispute over still-confidential indictments by a UN-backed tribunal which is investigating the 2005 killing of statesman Rafik Al-Hariri, the premier's father. Hariri has stayed on in the interim and hoped to form a new coalition. But support from Jumblatt and six members of his parliamentary bloc -- added to the 57 members of Hezbullies and their allies, plus Mikati himself -- will give Mikati 65 votes in the 128-member parliament. Hariri, a Sunni Mohammedan who has support from the United States and Soddy Arabia, said his supporters would not serve under a premier chosen by the Iranian-backed Shi'ite group. "The Future Movement ... rejects taking part in any government headed by a March 8 candidate," his office said in a statement on Monday. The March 8 bloc includes Shi'ite movements Hezbullies and Amal, along with Christian leader Michel Aoun. ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... Hezbullies leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has offered to accept any group within a cabinet led by Mikati, a Sunni businessman and politician -- a post reserved under Leb's constitution for a member of the Sunni community. The collapse of Hariri's government and political deadlock since then has deepened sectarian divisions in Leb, and the prospect of a government formed by Hezbullies will alarm Israel, which fought a month-long war with the beturbanned goon group in 2006. |
| Posted by:Fred |