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June 27, 2009

Hariri Named Lebanon's Prime Minister
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=25068B9:A6F02AD83191E160C0A6623B845C51B121A4E82C900CD027&
 
President Michel Suleiman designated parliamentary majority leader Saad
Hariri as PM, after majority of lawmakers nominated him for post 
Saad Hariri arrives for meeting with President Michel Suleiman at Baabda
presidential palace, east of Beirut, 26 Jun 2009Saad Hariri has been
named the new prime minister of Lebanon, taking
over a post once held by his father, Rafiq Hariri, who was assassinated
in 2005.Lebanese President Michel Suleiman appointed Mr. Hariri on
Saturday, after a majority of lawmakers had nominated him. Speaking
at the presidential palace, Mr. Hariri pledged to work to mend
divisions between Lebanon's rival political factions and to form a
harmonious unity government. The 39-year-old Saad Hariri heads a
pro-Western party that won elections earlier this month. A coalition
led by Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, has the second
largest number of seats in Lebanon's 128-seat assembly. Mr.
Hariri and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah have pledged to cooperate
in forming a unity government. But Mr. Hariri says he will not allow
the Hezbollah alliance to keep the veto power it has benefited from in
the outgoing Cabinet. Thursday, Lebanese
lawmakers re-elected pro-Hezbollah lawmaker Nabih Berri as
parliamentary speaker. He has held the the position since 1992.In
Lebanon's complex power-sharing system, the prime minister must always
be a Sunni Muslim, while the speaker of parliament is a Shi'ite and the
president a Maronite Christian. The assassination of Rafiq
Hariri, which many blamed on Syria, sparked massive protests that led
to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Some information for
this report was provided by AFP.


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