US campaign against new Lebanon PM

Najib Mikati was appointed as Lebanon's new prime minister on Tuesday

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162125.html

The US has launched a smear campaign against Lebanon's opposition-backed Premier Najib Mikati, alleging that Hezbollah forced the official's recent appointment.

The Lebanese parliament recently convened to agree on a nominee to replace caretaker Premier Saad Hariri, whose government collapsed on January 12.

Two days of consultations led to the nomination of Mikati, who enjoyed the support of the opposition spectrum, among them Hezbollah. The candidate was later officially appointed to the office by President Michel Sleiman's decree.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, said on Tuesday that the emergence of what she called a Hezbollah-led government would "clearly have an impact" on Washington's relations with Beirut, Reuters reported.

The White House also accused the Lebanese resistance movement of using "coercion, intimidation and threats of violence" to achieve political goals.

Hezbollah's Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah asserted, though, that the group is not striving to gain power in the country and rejected claims that Mikati was Hezbollah's pick for the post.

The developments also come amid a political crisis rooted in the activities of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a US-backed court probing the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri -- Saad Hariri's father and former premier.

The tribunal is likely to indict some Hezbollah members in the incident in what is denounced as means to sow discord in Lebanon.

Speaking to Press TV, author and political commentator, Carol Gould said Washington would have to ultimately come to terms with Mikati's premiership if the official helps Lebanon out of the current political uncertainty.

“Well, if Prime Minster Mikati can bring stability…, then there won't be a problem and I think the United Stated will have to accept that,” she said.

“Mikati is Harvard-educated, he is a multi-millionaire -- he had a very successful mobile phone business. And if he can bring the Lebanese economy back into a positive figure, and bring stability, then that's a good thing for Lebanon.”

Hezbollah calls for national unity government

Supporters of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri set fire to tires in the streets of Beirut on Monday, January 24, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161988.html

Hezbollah has called on new Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to form a national unity government while former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's supporters have resorted to violence.

Hezbollah and its allies in the March 8 Alliance, which includes Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement, will try to form a national unity government, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said.

“We don't seek to (exclude) anyone,” Nasrallah stated in a televised speech late on Monday night, on the eve of parliamentary talks between Lebanese President Michel Sleiman and lawmakers from the 128-seat parliament.

“The Lebanese people have a real chance to unite without winners or losers,” Nasrallah said on Tuesday.

The government headed by Saad Hariri of the March 14 Alliance collapsed on January 12 over a United Nations inquiry into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, Saad's father, when the March 8 Alliance ministers resigned from the cabinet, saying the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was part of a US-Israeli plot to target the group.

Nasrallah thanked Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who said last week he would support Hezbollah and its allies in the parliamentary talks to choose a new premier. Jumblatt was once a key ally of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Hezbollah pick for PM wins majority

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161866.html

Hezbollah-backed candidate Najib Mikati has clinched the backing of the majority of Lebanese MPs to be appointed as the country's next prime minister.

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Joumblatt has urged caretaker Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri to stop his supporters from flooding the streets.

"The streets will kill everyone and the repercussions will fall on all of us," said Joumblatt.

"I believe Hariri is very aware of the situation and the responsibility of protecting the country's peace and institution falls on him," he added.

Joumblatt made his request while crowds of Hariri supporters took to the streets in protest against the nomination of Hezbollah-backed candidate Mikati.

Hariri loyalists go on rampage, burning tires and destroying a van belonging to a TV channel.

Hariri had already said that he would accept the results of the democratic process, eliminating the choice of taking to the streets.

Mikati won 68 votes out of the parliament's 128 seats to be poised as the new prime minister as Lebanese parliamentarians headed for the second day of consultations in an attempt to elect the country's new prime minister on Tuesday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The two-day consultations started on Monday in the official residence of the Lebanese president in the mountain town of Baabda, overlooking the capital of Beirut.

Mikati says he is stepping forward with a promise to cooperate with all parties in an attempt to help bring the country out of its current political stalemate.

He has presented himself as a candidate backed by the opposition March 8 alliance's consensus.

Earlier, Jumblatt endorsed the opposition's hopeful Mikati.

The leader of the Progressive Socialist Party announced his decision to back Mikati together with six lawmakers from his faction.

Hariri's government collapsed nearly two weeks ago following the resignation of eleven ministers from the coalition cabinet in a dispute over a US-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanese former Premier Rafiq Hariri.