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Lebanon's Government Collapses With Cabinet Resignations

VOA News 12 January 2011

Lebanon's coalition government collapsed on Wednesday as members of the opposition Hezbollah party and its allies announced they were resigning from the Cabinet.

Eleven members of the 30-member Cabinet quit in protest over the U.N.-backed investigation into the 2005 assassination of the country's former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.

The resignations took place as Hariri's son, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, discussed the crisis with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.

A White House statement says that during the meeting, Mr. Obama stressed the importance of the tribunal's work in helping to end an "era of political assassinations with impunity in Lebanon." The statement also called the efforts of the Hezbollah-led coalition to collapse the government a demonstration of its "fear and determination" to stop the government from conducing business and advancing the aspirations of the Lebanese people.

After the meeting, Mr. Hariri boarded a plane for Paris where he will discuss his government's collapse with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The White House says President Obama and Prime Minister Hariri have discussed united efforts with France, Saudi Arabia and other world powers to ensure that the tribunal continues its work, "unimpeded by third parties."

Media have reported that the U.N. indictments will likely target Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah denies involvement in the killing of Rafiq Hariri and has been pushing the government to renounce the probe. Hezbollah holds 10 of the cabinet's 30 posts.

In a Wednesday news conference, opposition lawmaker Gebran Bassil denounced the the U.N. investigation as an "Israeli project."

On Tuesday, Syria and Saudi Arabia failed to broker an agreement among Beirut's rival political factions. The negotiations had been touted by Lebanese and Arab leaders as one of the best hopes to defuse the crisis.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.