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After Months of Dissent, Lebanon Forms New Government

   Olcay Rached  June 13, 2011
   New Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, speaks after the announcing
   of the new cabinet, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of
   Beirut, Lebanon, June 13, 2011

Photo: AFP

   New Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, speaks after the announcing
   of the new cabinet, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of
   Beirut, Lebanon, June 13, 2011

   Lebanon has formed a new Cabinet five months after the militant group
   Hezbollah and its allies forced the country's coalition government to
   collapse.
   A government official announced the new Cabinet led by Hezbollah-backed
   Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday. The Hezbollah-led bloc holds the
   majority of seats in the 30-member Cabinet.
   Mr. Mikati must now present his new government to parliament for
   approval.
   The country had functioned without an official government since
   mid-January, when the pro-Western government of Prime Minister Saad
   Hariri fell apart.
   Hezbollah members and their allies withdrew from the national unity
   Cabinet at that time due to disagreements about a United Nations-backed
   tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Mr. Hariri's father,
   former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
   A sealed draft indictment submitted by U.N. prosecutors is believed to
   implicate Hezbollah members in the Beirut truck bombing that killed the
   elder Mr. Hariri.
   Mr. Mikati secured the prime minister's post in January with the
   support of Hezbollah and other opposition blocs in parliament. Some in
   Lebanon fear the growing influence of his pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian
   backers.
   Syrian President Bashar al-Assad congratulated Lebanon on its formation
   of a new government in a telephone call Monday. Syria is a strong ally
   of Hezbollah.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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References

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