Posted on 11/12/2006 5:45:26 AM PST by Valin
BEIRUT (AFP) -All five Shiite ministers from Hezbollah and ally Amal quit the Lebanese government, including the foreign minister who will miss an Arab League meeting, but the prime minister said they must stay. "We have resigned because the majority insists on exercising power on its own," the head of the group's parliamentary bloc Mohammed Raad said Saturday, referring to the anti-Syrian majority that has baulked at forming a unity government without first having guarantees that pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud will step down. "We don't want ministers who blindly follow the majority," Raad said. "This is about giving a warning to the majority."
But Prime Minister Fuad Siniora immediately issued a statement saying he would not accept the resignations, which he said he heard about from Lebanese media. "Mr Siniora rejects the resignation of Hezbollah and Amal ministers, even if they officially hand in their resignation, and insists that they take part in government," the statement said. "This government respects the constitution and principles based on dialogue and consensus, and it insists on cooperating with all parties in order to find solutions which preserve the interests of Lebanon," it added.
The resignations came after the failure on Saturday of a week of talks on forming a unity government and months of political stalemate because of disputes between pro- and anti-Syrian elements in parliament. The powerful Hezbollah movement, supported by Syria and Iran and flush from its claimed "divine victory" in the summer war with Israel, had two portfolios in the 24-minister cabinet which is dominated by anti-Syrian politicians.
Two ministers from Shiite ally Amal also resigned, along with Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh who is considered close to Hezbollah. Sallukh had been due to attend a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on Sunday to examine Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, including a raid that killed 19 Palestinians, mainly women and children, in Beit Hanoun on Wednesday. A government source said Sallukh would not be going, even though the meeting had been called for by Lebanon.
Hezbollah wants to bring in opposition allies, represented by Christian ally Michel Aoun's parliamentary group -- with 21 of parliament's 128 deputies. It also wants a number of cabinet posts that would ensure it had a "blocking minority", a move opposed by the anti-Syrian majority that sees this as a Syrian attempt to return strongly to Lebanese politics. Such a mechanism would allow the opposition to prevent the government from ratifying the formation of an international court to try those eventually charged for the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri.
An ongoing United Nations probe has implicated senior officials from Syria, which for decades was the power-broker in its smaller neighbor, and Lebanese accomplices. Damascus strongly denies any connection with the Hariri killing. Lebanon on Friday received the final draft of a UN resolution on creating this court, which must be approved by the government before being sent to the UN Security Council for adoption. Hariri, whose son Saad heads the anti-Syrian bloc, was killed in a Beirut bombing last year that sparked protests leading to the departure of Syrian troops from Lebanon after almost three decades.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview in October that his movement would call demonstrators onto the streets if necessary. "If dialogue does not result in a government of national unity, we will resort to demonstrations. It is our constitutional right, our democratic right to express our opinions in the street," he said. The anti-Syrian majority says the country needs a tight government to carry out the post-war reconstruction and reform programme with the help of the international community. But Hezbollah believes that only a national unity government can lead to stability and prevent Washington from interfering in Lebanon's affairs.
Earlier this month, the White House sounded the alarm over what it called "mounting evidence" that Hezbollah was "preparing plans to topple" the Beirut government in collaboration with its Iranian and Syrian allies. Syria has denied trying to overthrow Beirut's pro-Western government and insists Lebanon can only be governed through "national unity". Tehran also termed the accusations baseless.
This world has become a time bomb.
Tick, tick, tick...
". . . the majority insists on exercising power on its own . . ."
Duh!
Ping!
It always has been.
Lebanon is a gone goose. Soon it will be Hezballah land.
This is what happens when you have a cancer and you dont remove it.
We should remember that right here. all immigration of Muslims should stop immediately.
Certainly America was formed on freedom of religion, but this is not a religion its a Satanic cult that will eventually overwhelm us if we allow it to do so.
There have always been a few Wiccans and Satanic worshippers in this country, but they have never been organised and stated their exact intention of either converting us or killing us like these Islamic monsters.
Lebanon is a gone goose. Soon it will be Hezballah land.
We'll see.
why should hezzbola terrorists be part of the lebanese government...they are the lebanese govt...and soon will re-attack israel..under the auspices of the un & condi rice!!!
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