New Lebanese PM set to draft govt policy

Lebanon's new Prime Minister Najib Mikati was preparing on Tuesday to begin the delicate task of drafting his government policy, a day after announcing a cabinet dominated by Hezbollah and its allies. All eyes are now focused on how Mikati will address the controversial Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), a UN-backed investigation that led to the downfall of the previous government. Washington, which lists Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, said it would adopt a wait-and-see approach to Mikati's government while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the new cabinet to respect all its international obligations. "We'll judge it by its actions," US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "What's important in our mind is that the new Lebanese government abides by the Lebanese constitution, that it renounces violence ... and lives up to all its international obligations." Hezbollah, arguably the most powerful militant group in the region, first entered government in 2005 and has steadily imposed itself as a key player in domestic politics. But the Mikati cabinet marks the first time a coalition led by Hezbollah, which fought a deadly summer war with Israel in 2006, has dominated a government in Lebanon. Lebanon's pro-Western opposition bloc, led by former premier Saad Hariri, has boycotted the new cabinet, slamming it as a tool of Hezbollah and its backer Syria, which has long held sway in Lebanese politics. "This government is a trump card that the Syrian regime pulled in a moment of crisis and that Hezbollah will use to stand against UN resolutions," said Fares Soueid, a former MP and one of the leaders of the March 14 coalition, headed by Hariri. "At a time when the Arab world is moving toward democracy, where Arab society is talking about citizenship and freedom, Lebanon ... again finds itself under the control of Syria and Hezbollah's weapons." The Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in January forced the collapse of Hariri's government after he refused to disavow the STL, set up to investigate the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. The Netherlands-based court is widely expected to indict Hezbollah operatives over the killing, a move the militant group has repeatedly warned against. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is facing an unprecedented revolt against his regime, was forced to pull his troops out of Lebanon after Hariri's assassination, ending 29 years of military and political domination. The big question mark as concerns Mikati today is whether his government will cease all cooperation with the tribunal, an issue he has sidestepped. "We will assess the implications of the tribunal on Lebanon and on Lebanon's stability and act accordingly," Mikati told AFP after his cabinet was announced on Monday. "I can say that I will do my best to deal with the issue so that Lebanon continues to respect international resolutions -- yet I have responsibilities when it comes to Lebanon's stability," he added without elaborating. Mikati also moved to calm fears about the new line-up. "The fact that Hezbollah and its allies have 18 seats in the 30-member cabinet does not mean that the country will join the radical camp in terms of its relations with the international community," he told AFP. He stressed that more than one-third -- 12 -- of the ministers had been appointed by himself, President Michel Sleiman and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, thus ensuring Hezbollah and its allies could not make decisions unilaterally. The government must now be approved by at least half of Lebanon's 128-seat parliament, where the Hezbollah-led alliance has a small majority.