"Day of rage" in Lebanon as Mikati set to be next PM
Lebanon’s President Michel Suleiman appointed telecoms tycoon Najib Mikati, who is backed by Hezbollah and its allies, as prime minister-designate on Tuesday, a presidential statement said.
Speaking after the appointment, Mikati said he would start talks to form the government on Thursday and urged all Lebanese factions to overcome their differences.
Mikati, 55 and a Sunni from Tripoli, received the backing of 65 of parliament’s 128 MPs who have been meeting since Monday with President Michel Suleiman after Hezbollah brought down the unity government of Western-backed Saad Hariri on Jan. 12.
Suleiman was expected to appoint Mikati to head the new government later on Tuesday after wrapping up his consultations with parliamentary groups.
His probable appointment has sparked widespread anger within the Sunni community. It is seen as a bid by the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah to sideline Hariri, the most popular Sunni leader in Lebanon, and essentially take control of the government.
Demonstrations
Demonstrations continued in areas populated by Hezbollah’s Sunni rivals, who declared a "day of rage" Tuesday to express their rejection of what they called "Persian tutelage" over Lebanon – a reference to Hezbollah’s Iranian support.
Protests erupted in Sunni regions across Lebanon on Monday as outgoing premier Saad Hariri’s party accused the Shiite Hezbollah of staging a coup by imposing its candidate to head a new government.
Nearly two weeks after bringing down Lebanon’s Western-backed government, the Shiite armed group – considered a terrorist organization by Washington – secured support in parliament to name its own candidate for the next prime minister. The feat caps Hezbollah’s steady rise over decades from resistance force against Israel to Lebanon’s most powerful military and political power.
"Sunni blood is boiling!" and "Hezbollah, party of the devil!" chanted demonstrators in the northern port city of Tripoli, Mikati’s home town and Lebanon’s main Sunni bastion, according to AFP.
Former MP Mustafa Alloush, of Hariri’s Western-backed Future Movement, blasted the Iranian-backed armed group for staging a "coup" and seeking to impose an Iranian form of religious government.
Under Lebanon’s power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim.
"Following the coup aimed at allowing Hezbollah to impose its rule in Lebanon… we call on the Lebanese to express their anger and their refusal to fall under Iranian control through peaceful protests," Alloush said.
Hariri denounces violence
Outgoing Lebanese premier Hariri denounced on Tuesday violent incidents that erupted during protests by his supporters against the appointment of a Hezbollah-backed candidate to head the new government.
"But it is also my duty to express my total rejection of all forms of rioting and acts of law-breakers who have accompanied these demonstrations.
Demonstrators in Sunni Muslim stronghold Tripoli attacked and burned a car of Al-Jazeera television, and ransacked the office of a rival MP.
"I deeply regret the attack against the vehicle of Al-Jazeera," he said.
American "concerns"
Hezbollah’s Western-backed opponents maintain having an Iranian proxy in control of Lebanon’s government would be disastrous and lead to international isolation. The United States, which has poured in $720 million in military aid since 2006, has tried to move Lebanon firmly into a Western sphere and end the influence of Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.
Washington expressed "great concerns" at the likelihood of Hezbollah playing a major role in the new government, saying the larger the role, "the more problematic" the ties.
"We would have great concerns about a government within which the Hezbollah plays a leading role," U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
In Beirut, a security official told AFP that demonstrators had briefly cut off major roads leading in and out of the capital early Monday evening.
Some demonstrators were seen overturning dumpsters and burning tires as the army and police boosted their presence across the country.
Roads were also cut off temporarily in the eastern Bekaa region, near the southern coastal city of Sidon and in several other towns in northern Lebanon.
In central Beirut, some 200 people gathered in front of Hariri’s residence to express their support while another group demonstrated in the downtown area carrying placards that read "No for Hezbollah rule" and "Pasdaran not welcome," referring to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Hezbollah on Jan. 12 brought down Hariri’s Saudi- and Western-backed government after a long-running dispute over a U.N.-backed tribunal probing the 2005 murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Saad’s father.
Urging calm
Hezbollah had been pressing Hariri to disavow the tribunal, which it believes will implicate its members.
Mikati, who served briefly as premier in 2005 and is close to Syria, said that should he be appointed he would act as a consensual candidate representing all parties.
"I extend my hand to everyone," he told reporters after meeting Suleiman. "If I am appointed, my actions will speak for themselves."
After the protests broke out he issued a statement urging calm.
"We call on our brothers in Tripoli and across the north to exercise wisdom and patience," said Mikati, who was elected to parliament in 2009 on Hariri’s list.
The 55-year-old tycoon is a major shareholder in South Africa’s telecom MTN Group, owns the French fashion line Faconnable and has major real estate investments.
Forbes magazine in 2010 estimated his net worth at $2.5 billion, making him one of Lebanon’s richest men.
The appointment of a Hezbollah-backed premier has sparked fears within the international community, notably Israel, of Iran gaining further influence in Lebanon and has prompted comparisons with Gaza, ruled by the Islamist group Hamas.
But Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has dismissed such claims, saying that his coalition would seek to include Hariri’s camp in the new government.
Hariri, however, has ruled out joining a government headed by a premier appointed by Hezbollah.