Lebanese premier defers resignation until he meets pro-Syrian parties

Lebanon: Lebanese prime minister Omar Karami yesterday postponed his previously announced resignation until he meets members of pro-Syrian parliamentary parties. Once he completes consultations, he said, he intends to step down.

His abrupt shift denied, at least temporarily, the anti-Syrian opposition alliance one of its major demands.

By refusing to join a national unity government or to agree to a dialogue with Mr Karami, the opposition has made it impossible for him to form a cabinet. The opposition blames his government and the Lebanese and Syrian intelligence agencies for creating a climate of tension and failing to provide security.

Some factions also accuse these agencies of direct involvement in the murder of former premier Rafik Hariri on February 14th.

Mr Karami, who first resigned on February 28th, was subsequently asked to form a cabinet by President Émile Lahoud, whose term was extended last September under pressure from Damascus, in spite of the rejection of this move by Mr Hariri and the opposition.

But when he accepted a second mandate, Mr Karami said that unless the opposition agreed to take part in a unity government, he would not stay in office.

His departure is likely to clear the way for the creation of a "neutral" cabinet to prepare for parlia- mentary elections in May.

The opposition celebrated two important victories this week. Mr Karami's removal would be a third.

On Tuesday Maj Gen Raymond Azar, the pro-Syrian head of military intelligence, took a long leave of absence, signalling his retirement. His decision followed the publication of a UN report into the killing of Mr Hariri which was critical of Lebanese intelligence. Brig Azar was promptly replaced by Lieut Gen Georges Khoury, chief of military intelligence in Mount Lebanon, who is reported to be close to the Maronite Catholic patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.

Gen Khoury superseded two Shia Muslim generals senior to him because the post normally goes to a Maronite under Lebanon's confessional system.

The second development hailed by the opposition was the pledge by Syrian foreign minister Farouk Sharaa to the UN Security Council that the 8,000 Syrian troops remaining in Lebanon would be withdrawn ahead of elections. So far, 6,000 troops and several hundred Syrian intelligence agents have left Lebanon since the opposition launched its populist campaign for an end to the Syrian presence.

Meanwhile, cracks have appeared in the opposition front comprising several Christian parties and Walid Jumblatt's Druze grouping, which, a Lebanese informant quipped, have "no common denominator or programme" and "are reactive".

The Free Patriotic Movement, headed by exiled Gen Michel Aoun, has called for the deployment of a multinational force under the auspices of the UN to prevent a security vacuum following the departure of Syrian troops.

The "Aounist" faction's demand was strengthened on Monday when a US State Department spokeswoman, Elizabeth Dibble, observed, "The Lebanese security apparatus [ is] not trustworthy. The US and the international community are ready to help Lebanon to enforce security after the Syrian pull-out."

But the opposition's head, Mr Jumblatt, strongly opposes foreign intervention.

The pro-Syrian coalition, including the Shia Hizbullah movement, the largest political grouping in the country, and the mainstream faction of the Maronite Phalange party, led by Mr Karim Pakradouni, also reject external involvement.