Lebanon

After six weeks of internal wrangling, the Lebanese government Friday agreed to form a new government. Half of the 30 Cabinet posts will be awarded to the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora with about one-third, or 11, of the ministerial seats going to opposition parties supported by Lebanese Hizballah.

The decision means Hizballah will have enough seats to hold veto power in the new government.  One of the constitutional requirements is a joint statement pointing to the future of the Lebanese government.  Part of that statement may include language from the May cease-fire agreements that call on all militias to lay down their weapons.  However, with the veto-wielding Hizballah, any such language will largely be diluted.

DOHA, Qatar, May 21 (UPI) — Lebanese opposition movements and the Western-backed government declared a deal Wednesday in Qatar to end the 18-month political conflict and elect a president.

The Shiite opposition and the Lebanese government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora agreed to elect Lebanese army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman as president within 24 hours, give Hezbollah veto power in the Cabinet and adopt an electoral law that reflects a sectarian power-sharing arrangement, The New York Times said.

Qatari authorities in Doha said the arrangement paves the way for a unity government with 16 Cabinet positions for the ruling majority, 11 for the opposition, including Hezbollah, and three seats nominated by Suleiman.

A new electoral law mandates all parties to “commit themselves not to use weapons or violence in order to achieve political gains under any circumstances,” however that language leaves the status of Hezbollah weapons ambiguous, the Times said.

The relationship between Lebanon and the U.N. investigation into the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 10 others was left unresolved as well, the Times said.

The talks put an end to weeks of violence rocking Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters took to the streets May 7 when the Siniora government announced its opposition to the movement’s private telecommunications network.

A delegation of leaders from a roundtable summit in Qatar urged Lebanon to form a unity government as soon as possible to recover from the latest conflict pitting the Shiite opposition, including Hizballah, against the western-backed Sunni government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Qatari emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani met with Siniora and Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, the top opposition leader, during the weekend.  The summit produced two measures of reconciliation; new election laws and a power-sharing agreement for a unity government.  The Qatari delegates urged Lebanese officials to position Michel Suleiman, the chief of the Lebanese army, as the next president and delay new electoral laws. Proposals for the unity government include the distribution of 13 ministerial seats to the Sunni majority, 10 from the opposition movements and seven posts appointed by a new president.

The delegation became tense during the weekend over the issue of Hizballah weapons.  Their lawmaker Mohammed Raad said in a televised statement that the issue of weapons “is not up for discussion” while the Qatari delegation suggested including provisions banning militant weapons.  Akram Shehaib with the Druze delegation, however, moved away from the hard line demand on the issue instead opting for language banning weapons used “against the Lebanese people.”