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Hariri seeks guarantees as Lebanon PM forms govt
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Hariri seeks guarantees as Lebanon PM forms govt
AFP - Friday, January 28
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BEIRUT (AFP) - – Lebanon's premier-designate Najib Mikati began talks on Thursday on forming a new government as his rivals sought a commitment on a UN court at the hub of a dispute that brought down the previous cabinet.
Outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement said Mikati, who is backed by the powerful Hezbollah, had been asked to state clearly whether his government would cease cooperation with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
"We asked the prime minister-designate to clarify his position and state it clearly in his policy statement," said MP Fuad Siniora, whose party has refused to join the new government.
The STL was set up in the aftermath of the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Saad's father.
A months-long standoff between the Shiite Hezbollah and Sunni Muslim Hariri over the STL led to the Iranian- and Syrian-backed militant party on January 12 forcing the collapse of Hariri's government.
Hezbollah, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington, had been pressing the Western-backed Hariri to cut all ties with the tribunal, and Mikati is expected to come under the same pressure.
Siniora said Mikati was asked to say whether he would stop Lebanon's share of funding for the Netherlands-based court, remove the three Lebanese judges on the STL and renounce the protocol of agreement concerning the court.
Officials from Hariri's party said that once Mikati clarifies his position, the Future Movement and its allies would decide how to deal with the new government.
"Mikati's answers will condition our attitude toward his government," one official close to Hariri said, requesting anonymity.
He would not clearly say whether members of Hariri's coalition could reconsider their refusal to join the new government.
Hezbollah's parliamentary group denied having imposed any conditions on Mikati concerning the STL.
"We set no terms or conditions on the prime minister-designate," Mohammed Raad, head of the militant party's parliamentary bloc, said.
The 55-year-old Mikati said this week in an interview with AFP that he hoped to resolve the dispute over the tribunal through dialogue, and acknowledged that Lebanon could not force the court to stop its work.
He added, however, that the country's cooperation with the STL was another question altogether, without elaborating.
Mikati, a moderate lawmaker with good ties to Syria and Saudi Arabia, was meeting the parliamentary groups on Thursday and Friday before reporting back to President Michel Sleiman.
He said he would seek to form a cabinet that includes all parties, but Hariri's coalition has flatly rejected joining a government headed by a candidate they deem was imposed by Hezbollah.
Mikati, whose appointment has prompted fears of a shift in the balance of power towards Syria and Iran, said that should he fail in his efforts to convince his rivals to join his cabinet, he would form a government of technocrats.
The business tycoon on Thursday met US ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly to underline his commitment to maintaining good ties with Washington, his office said.
The US embassy said in a statement that Connelly had stressed the importance of forming a government without outside interference or coercion.
Lebanon's former power broker Syria on Thursday stated its backing for Mikati, and urged all political parties to join his government.
"We call on all parties to join the Mikati cabinet, and Syria is ready to cooperate with this government," Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told a news conference.
"What has happened in Lebanon is in line with the constitution. We respect the choice of the representatives of the Lebanese people, and we hope the prime minister-designate can form a government of national unity," Muallem added.
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