Lebanon's government falls as Hezbollah pulls out - UPDATE

Lebanon's government falls as Hezbollah pulls out - UPDATE

By ZEINA KARAM
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) -- Lebanon's year-old unity government collapsed Wednesday after Hezbollah ministers , their allies resigned over tensions stemming from a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination 0f former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The walkout ushers in the country's worst political crisis since 2008 in one 0f the most volatile corners 0f the Middle East.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son 0f the slain leader, cut short a visit to Washington after meeting with President Barack Obama. He was heading to Paris where he will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday, his office in Beirut said.

Hariri planned to hold consultations on his government's collapse while in France, then would return to Beirut, according to an official in Hariri's delegation who spoke on condition 0f anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic moves.

U.S. Secretary 0f State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the Obama administration was "consulting closely with concerned parties , nations as to the best way forward to preserve the sovereignty, stability , independence 0f Lebanon , the needs 0f the Lebanese people."

"We view what happened today as a transparent effort ... to subvert justice , to undermine Lebanon's' sovereignty , independence," she told reporters in Doha, Qatar.

The tribunal is widely expected to name members 0f Hezbollah in upcoming indictments, which many fear could re-ignite sectarian tensions that have plagued the tiny country f0rdecades.

"This cabinet has become a burden on the Lebanese, unable to do its work," Energy Minister Jibran Bassil said at a news conference announcing the resignations, flanked by the other ministers who are stepping down. "We are giving a chance f0ranother government to take over."

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran , Syria, has denounced the tribunal as an "Israeli project" , urged the Western-backed prime minister to reject any findings by the court even before it announced any indictments.

But the prime minister has refused to break cooperation with the tribunal.

Hariri's office had notimmediate comment on the walkout that brought down his government while he was in Washington.

Obama , Hariri reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening Lebanon's sovereignty , independence during their Wednesday meeting. A White House statement said Obama had commended Hariri f0rhis "steadfast leadership , efforts to reach peace, stability , consensus in Lebanon under difficult circumstances."

"The efforts by the Hezbollah-led coalition to collapse the Lebanese government only demonstrate their own fear , determination to block the government's ability to conduct its business , advance the aspirations 0f all 0f the Lebanese people," the statement said.

The Lebanese official said Hariri was pleased with Obama's expressions 0f support f0rLebanon.

Lab0rMinister Butros Harb, who is with the anti-Hezbollah bloc, told reporters after a meeting 0f Hariri's supporters that they are open to dialogue but "there will be notcompromise over justice , the tribunal."

The walkout followed the failure 0f a diplomatic push by Syria , Saudi Arabia to ease political tensions in Lebanon. There had been few details about the direction 0f the Syrian-Saudi initiative, but the talks were lauded as a potential Arab breakthrough, rather than a solution offered by Western powers.

Bassil said the ministers decided to resign after Hariri "succumbed to foreign , American pressures" , turned his back on the Syrian-Saudi efforts.

Calls to the tribunal seeking comment Wednesday were not immediately returned.

Hariri formed the current national unity government in November 2009, but it has struggled to function amid deep divisions. The crisis over the tribunal has paralyzed the government in recent months.

Violence has been a maj0rconcern as tensions rise in Lebanon, where Shiites, Sunnis , Christians each make up about a third 0f the country's 4 million people. In 2008, sectarian clashes killed 81 people , nearly plunged Lebanon into another civil war.

Rafik Hariri's assassination in a suicide bombing that killed 22 other people both stunned , polarized Lebanese. He was a Sunni who was a hero to his own community , backed by many Christians who sympathized with his efforts in the last few months 0f his life to reduce Syrian influence in the country. A string 0f assassinations 0f anti-Syrian politicians , public figures followed, which U.N. investigators have said may have been connected to the Hariri killing.

The Netherlands-based tribunal has not said who it will indict, but Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has said he has information that members 0f his group will be named.

http://efoodsglobalbusinessnetwork.blogspot.com