Lebanon forms unity government with Hezbollah

Lebanon ended weeks of wrangling on July 11 and formed a unity government in which Hezbollah and its allies hold effective veto power, as agreed under a deal that ended a paralyzing political conflict in the country. The decisive say granted to the former opposition led by Hezbollah, an ally of Damascus, shows that Syria has succeeded in wrenching back some political leverage in Lebanon, where it was the main power broker until its troops left in 2005. The birth of the government, the first under newly elected President Michel Suleiman, should close a long political crisis that had threatened to plunge Lebanon into a new civil war. A presidential decree announced the cabinet after Suleiman, a Maronite Christian, met Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, a Sunni Muslim, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Shiite Muslim. "This government has two main tasks: regaining confidence in the Lebanese political system... and securing the holding of a transparent parliamentary election," Siniora told reporters. The new team has one Hezbollah minister in addition to 10 ministers from its Shiite, Druze and Christian allies. The opposition was guaranteed 11 of the cabinet's 30 seats under a May deal to defuse a conflict that had sparked some of the worst fighting since the 1975-90 civil war. All major decisions require a two-thirds majority or 20 cabinet votes. The cabinet's main task will be to ease sectarian and political tensions to avert further violence, adopt an election law already agreed upon and supervise next year's poll. The United States welcomed the formation of a cabinet but said it would not deal with cabinet members from Hezbollah. "This cabinet does include members of Hezbollah, as did the last one. We will not deal with those members of the cabinet. But we look forward to working with the prime minister, as well as his new foreign minister," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana also hailed the formation of the new government, which he said marked a "key achievement." "Important decisions need to be taken in the coming weeks and there is a lot of work to be done," Solana said in a statement, reiterating the EU's support to Siniora. Suleiman immediately traveled to Paris to launch French President Nicolas Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union project, his first foreign trip as president. Also present was his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. Assad's presence at the summit marked French recognition of Syria's role in facilitating a compromise in Lebanon. Damascus had given its blessing to the deal made in Doha, Qatar which effectively translated into political gains the military victory Hezbollah and its allies had won against their Western-backed foes in street fighting in Beirut and elsewhere earlier in May. Lebanon and Syria Shake Hands The day after the unity government was announced, Lebanon and Syria agreed to establish diplomatic relations, opening embassies in each other's capitals for the first time since their independence from colonial rule. Sarkozy announced the decision in Paris after talks with Assad and Suleiman. The two Middle Eastern leaders confirmed the development at a joint news conference later in the day. Relations between Syria and Lebanon have remained tense since the assassination of the former billionaire premier, Rafiq Hariri, following Syria's withdrawal from the country. Syria was widely blamed but denied involvement. Washington continues to blacklist Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism.