Saad Hariri. Challenges require unity
Photo: AP
Netanyahu
Photo: Flash 90
Lebanon's designated PM says government will include Hezbollah
Contacts between pro-Western and Syrian-Iranian factions aimed at setting up national unity government jammed; Saad Hariri not giving up: 'Hezbollah to be included in government whether Israel likes it or not'
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stressed that Hezbollah will
be a part of his national unity government "whether Israel likes
it or not". The statement were made following the dead end reached in efforts to create a new government in Lebanon.
"I want to stress before the Israeli enemy that Hezbollah will be in this government since national interest requires that everyone be a part of it," Hariri said Tuesday at the end of a dinner breaking the Ramadan fast. "We are facing challenges that ought to be met in the framework of national unity," he added.
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Hariri expressed his hope that security and stability will be maintained in all parts of Lebanon and that the Lebanese army and the internal security apparatus will be able to meet the civilians' needs.
Israel has warned several times of Hezbollah's possible inclusion in the Lebanese government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said two weeks ago, "The Lebanese government will be held accountable for every attack made from its sovereign territory should Hezbollah become an official part of the government."
Sluggish discussions
Ever since Hariri won the elections along with the anti-Syrian stream last June, discussions of setting up a national unity government in Lebanon have been sluggish. Saad, son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, is trying to establish a government that will represent the pro-Western bloc as well as the bloc headed by Hezbollah which is supported by Syria and Iran.Contacts between the two sides are meeting difficulties. London-based newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported that there is fear of a new crisis in Lebanon as a result of the political vacuum, based on sources close to negotiations.
One of the people responsible for the dead end is Druze community leader Walid Jumblatt who announced his intention of leaving Hariri's political bloc, but went back on his word several days later.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said he is awaiting a rough draft of the new government's make-up and has pressured the two sides to form a national unity government following "threats from Israel" two weeks ago.
