Lebanon's unity government collapsed on Wednesday after the powerful Hezbollah and its allies resigned from the cabinet over a UN probe into the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri. Energy Minister Gebran Bassil told a press conference that 10 ministers from the 30-member cabinet had tendered their resignations because of a long-running dispute with Prime Minister Saad Hariri - son of the slain leader - over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The announcement by Bassil, a member of the Christian Free Patriotic Movement close to Hezbollah, came just as Hariri was meeting in Washington with US President Barack Obama on the crisis. An 11th minister close to President Michel Sleiman also quit on Wednesday, thus providing the number of resignations needed to topple the government. The Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies have for months been pressing Hariri to disavow the STL on the grounds that it is part of a US-Israeli plot.
Hezbollah's camp, which is backed by Iran and Syria, on Tuesday gave the Western-backed Hariri until Wednesday to convene a cabinet meeting on the tribunal. According to unconfirmed press reports, the STL is poised to indict senior Hezbollah members in connection with Rafiq Hariri's 2005 assassination, a scenario the militant party vehemently rejects. Environment Minister Mohammad Rahhal, who is close to Hariri, told AFP Hezbollah's decision to quit the government was aimed at paralysing the state and forcing the premier to reject the tribunal. "They think that by piling the pressure on him, Hariri will bend but they are mistaken," Rahhal said. The Sunni premier has held talks in recent days in New York with Saudi King Abdullah, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the crisis.
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