Lebanese president asks Siniora to form new cabinet

LEBANON: INCUMBENT LEBANESE prime minister Fouad Siniora was appointed to stay on last night and form a potentially turbulent…

LEBANON:INCUMBENT LEBANESE prime minister Fouad Siniora was appointed to stay on last night and form a potentially turbulent cabinet including his staunch opponents.

President Michel Suleiman, who was sworn in on Sunday, was duty bound to name Mr Siniora after a slim majority of MPs, 68 of 127, chose him during a day of binding consultations at Baabda Palace. Mr Siniora, who has Washington's strong support, faces the unenviable task of heading a divided cabinet that will last only until parliamentary elections next May.

"I extend a hand to co-operate with all Lebanese in the interests of our nation," Mr Siniora said in a televised address. But that will be easier said than done.

Under the Doha agreement that halted - at least for now - an 18-month-old political crisis that spiralled into violence this month, the current opposition led by Iranian and Syrian-backed Hizbullah will hold a veto-wielding third of cabinet seats.

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Powerful Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri had been tipped as frontrunner for the post, which is reserved for his sect under Lebanon's complex power-sharing system.

But analysts said they believed Mr Hariri, who has strong Saudi backing, was wary of wading into choppy waters so close to a vote that will usher in a four-year government.

"Opposition is expected to still be pretty stiff," said Oussama Safa, head of the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies. "It's not the best way to start Hariri off as prime minister."

Calls for Mr Siniora's resignation punctuated a campaign for a greater share in power by the opposition, which considered his government illegitimate after the resignation of six ministers allied to Hizbullah.

Many opposition MPs did not name a candidate. "There's still some bad blood between them and Siniora," Mr Safa said.

"We did not nominate prime minister Siniora as a challenge, but for reconciliation and to turn the page," Mr Hariri told reporters after informing Suleiman of his choice of nomination.

Mr Siniora's government took a decision to ban Hizbullah's telephone network this month that sparked clashes, during which Hizbullah and Shia ally Amal briefly seized Mr Hariri's western Beirut stronghold. At least 65 people were killed.

At street level, national unity remains in short supply. One Lebanese soldier was killed in clashes between pro-opposition and pro-government supporters south of Beirut this week, and nine people were injured in fighting in Beirut.