Posted on 03/29/2005 10:30:45 AM PST by SmithL
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister said on Tuesday he would step down because he could not persuade anti-Syrian opposition figures to join a national unity government to lead the country to elections due in May.
In a move that could delay those polls, Omar Karami told reporters he was not willing to lead a cabinet that did not include both pro-Syrian loyalists and opposition.
"I am not willing to form a government of this sort and I came to put the speaker in the picture," he said after meeting Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. "I am going to see the president to inform him of this decision."
Karami resigned as prime minister a month ago after coming under immense popular pressure from Lebanese angered by the killing of his predecessor Rafik al-Hariri. But he was reappointed by parliament to form a national unity government.
Lebanon's opposition, which blames Syria and the Lebanese security agencies it backs for Hariri's death, has refused to join any government until after elections it believes will give it a majority in a chamber now largely allied to Damascus.
Once officially informed of Karami's decision, President Emile Lahoud will have to consult with deputies once again to choose a new prime minister, a process that could delay the general election much to the ire of the opposition.
Opposition figures accuse Karami of procrastinating to avoid elections and had urged him to form a government without them. His old cabinet still holds office in a caretaker capacity.
Karami and Lahoud had been expected in Cairo on Wednesday to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, but Lahoud's office said no such meeting was planned.
Hariri's killing in a Feb. 14 bombing prompted the biggest street protests in Lebanon's history and plunged the tiny country into its most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war that divided it along sectarian lines.
Christian, Druze and Sunni Muslim opposition figures, many of them wartime foes, seized upon popular anger to demand Syria withdraw forces it first poured into Lebanon early in that war.
SYRIAN PULLOUT
Facing immense international pressure, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has promised to withdraw all troops, intelligence agents and equipment from its neighbor.
Damascus has completed the first stage of a two-phase withdrawal plan, pulling back to the Bekaa valley and withdrawing nearly half the 14,000 troops it kept in Lebanon.
More than 2,000 Syrian troops have left in the past week, inching Syria closer to ending its 29-year military domination.
About a dozen Syrian vehicles crossed the border on Tuesday, witnesses said. More were packing in the southwest of the Bekaa.
"Assad has given instructions for the withdrawal to happen quickly," Lebanese Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad told Reuters. "But nothing has been set."
A Syrian-Lebanese military committee is due to meet next week to set a timeline for withdrawing the remaining forces.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said he expects Syria to complete the pull-out before elections.
The U.N. Security Council was expected to discuss this week ordering an international probe into Hariri's death in line with the results of a U.N. fact-finding mission to Beirut.
Karami told reporters he was sticking to an earlier promise to only head a broad national unity cabinet and was not willing to form a cabinet of relatively non-partisan figures both sides could accept -- a formula the opposition is pressing for.
"It is obvious they were wasting all this time, a month and a few days, so as not to form a government and avoid elections," Druze opposition lawmaker Ghazi al-Aridi told Reuters.
"The talk is now of a government of 10 people, trusted, credible people, able to hold parliamentary elections," he had said before Karami's widely expected comments.
But pro-Syrian Environment Minister Wiam Wahhab had also earlier said he did not see a quick end to the deadlock.
"We have entered a long stage," he said. "No one has to give them (opposition) a government they are comfortable with ... If they want elections they must enter a national unity cabinet."
Coincidence? I think not!
I lived for 22 years in Lebanon and during the civil war, please tell me about your extensive experience in the Lebanese affairs.
I have never seen a single American defending the Syrian terrorist regime and its brutal occupation in Lebanon except you. Even liberals do not dare to defend this Syrian Baath terrorist regime. When I said you have the most twisted logic on FR, I mean it.
Anderson Cooper of CNN did terrific reporting from Beirut last week.
Credit where it is due.
For the record, the Lebanese credit the events in Afghanistan and Iraq, plus President George W. Bush and specifically his inaugural speech of January 20, 2005 for the confidence to rise up.
Lebanese women are absolutly gorgeous.
You mean a puppet government? Yeah definently "free." Well now they are truley free. Nothing YOU can do about it but whine and make comical claims about Syria being a friendly nation.
When CNN went to Syria for a day last week they were assigned minders.
When the minders were present and cameras running the Syrians praised their government.
When the cameras were off and enterprising journalists managed to speak with the citizens privately, the citizens described their country as a dictatorship and spoke admiringly of the Lebanese protests.
I pray that in the not too distant future those Syrians are able to throw off their shackles, too.
Syria was invited in by the Christian president because his Christian faction was losing to the Muslims. Whatever puppet system the Syrians put in place - itkept you Lebanese from killing each other for two decades now. Is it time for Syria to leave? Probably - but do they leave behind a Lebanon better off or worse off? Did they at least do some good?
If Syria leaves - she leaves Lebanon better off then when she invaded.
If Syria leaves - she leaves Lebanon better off then when she invaded. I dare you to disagree.
Well the disgusting Sunni Islamist may pray the Baathists are overthrown but the Christians and moderate secular Muslims won't.
No kidding. These babes are hot. I hear Beirut is a hot night life spot in the ME. With babes like that it is no wonder why.
Ever wonder what 'Miss Hezballah' looks like? :)
Those are Mediterranean babes. The beaches are crawling with them looking for an "equal" tan:) Try Greece, Italy and Spain, too. Where you find them, there are nightspots. From about May to September.
Just let Destro spew his "facts". He knows better than us Lebanese what's what! We Lebanese should definitely thank Syria for the "functioning" government they gave us. I bet Destro thinks that because Saddam was getting 99% of the vote, that Iraq was a Democracy!
I'll always thank Syria for the over 100,000 Lebanese deaths they caused. The fact that he wants such a regime to stay in power in Lebanon really endears Destro to me.
You and me who were born and raised in Lebanon and lived its civil war should consult with Destro every time we should post anything about Lebanon or Syria control of Lebanon.
End of sarcasm :)
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