Lebanese Druze leader to back Hezbollah for premiership - Summary

Fri, 21 Jan 2011

Beirut - The leader of Lebanon's Druze religious community said Friday he would no longer support caretaker premier Saad Hariri and instead side with the Hezbollah-led opposition in next week's consultations to name a new premier.

"I will stand by the resistance (Hezbollah) and Syria," Walid Jumblatt said at a press conference.

By doing so, Jumblatt defied his long-time ally Hariri, who is seeking to reclaim control of the government after it collapsed earlier this month following Hezbollah's withdrawal of support in a dispute over a UN investigation into the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.

Jumblatt's announcement has not deterred Hariri's supporters, however.

"We still believe that we have the upper hand in naming the new premier," Hariri supporter lawmaker Ahmed Fatfat told the German Press Agency dpa.

Another lawmaker, Mustafa Alloush, said that if Hariri were to lose, his allies would not take part "in a Cabinet headed by Hezbollah."

Hezbollah has 57 seats in parliament, while Hariri controls 60.

Hariri is currently heading a caretaker government pending the outcome of consultations, due to be held early next week between Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and parliament.

However, sources close to the president predicted that the upcoming consultations might be postponed to pave way for more talks and mediation efforts by regional countries such Syria, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363563,hezbollah-premiership-summary.html.