Hariri named Lebanon PM

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 6/27/09 | Natacha Yazbeck

[NormsRevenge]

BEIRUT (AFP) – Saad Hariri, son of slain billionaire ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, pledged to form a cabinet that would unite rival political camps after he was named Lebanon's new prime minister on Saturday.

"We will begin consultations with all parliamentary blocs based on our commitment to a national unity government in which all main blocs are represented and which is harmonious, functional, and free of obstruction and paralysis," Hariri said.

Under the current unity government, headed by Fuad Siniora, militant group Hezbollah and its allies have veto power over major decisions.

The government was formed in May 2008, ending a political crisis that had brought Lebanon to the brink of civil war.

The crisis left more than 100 people dead and was defused following a Qatari-brokered deal that led to the election of army commander Michel Sleiman as president and the formation of a unity government.

But Siniora, elected to parliament in a general election three weeks ago, was unable to form a cabinet that satisfied Lebanon's feuding political camps until July 2008.

While Hezbollah and its allies want to maintain the status quo in the new cabinet, Hariri said ahead of his nomination that he would only accept another unity government if the Hezbollah alliance surrenders its veto powers.

The Lebanese government was effectively paralysed in November 2006 when five Shiite ministers backed by Hezbollah and and its ally Amal resigned, leaving the community unrepresented in government.

[NormsRevenge]

Lebanese prime minister-designate Saad Hariri visits his father's tomb in Beirut on June 27, 2009. Hariri, who was propelled into the heart of Lebanese politics following the assassination of his father four years ago, was himself named to the top job on June 27. AFP PHOTO/JOSEPH BARRAK(AFP/Joseph Barrak)

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

"The government was formed in May 2008, ending a political crisis that had brought Lebanon to the brink of civil war. "

Lebanon was doing just fine...far and away the Middle East's most successful nation, and Beirut was the "Paris of the Middle East" when it was a free nation.

But Iran sent Hezbollah in to kill the Christians and Jews and destroy the infrastructure, and now it's just another Islamic hellhole.

[Eagles6]

Let’s not forget that palistinian thingee.

[SunkenCiv]

Saad Hariri, son of slain billionaire ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, pledged to form a cabinet that would unite rival political camps after he was named Lebanon's new prime minister on Saturday. "We will begin consultations with all parliamentary blocs based on our commitment to a national unity government in which all main blocs are represented and which is harmonious, functional, and free of obstruction and paralysis," Hariri said. Under the current unity government, headed by Fuad Siniora, militant group Hezbollah and its allies have veto power over major decisions.