Calm returns to Lebanon after 2 days of protests

[January 26, 2011]  BEIRUT (AP) -- Lebanon's new Hezbollah-backed prime minister began the process of forming a new Cabinet on Wednesday, as calm returned to the country after two days of protests against the Iranian-backed militant group's growing influence.

Police and army troops opened all roads and removed barriers across the nation, while Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati took the first step in forming a new Cabinet by visiting former prime ministers. Hezbollah and its allies ousted the Western-backed government two weeks ago when they quit the Cabinet.

Mikati, a billionaire businessman and Harvard graduate, has called for a unity government that would bring together Lebanon's diverse society. Outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri has insisted he will not join a government led by a Hezbollah pick.

But the fact that Hezbollah, a group known as much for its ties to Shiite Iran as for its hostility to Israel, chose Mikati and secured enough backing in parliament to make him prime minister underscores Tehran's growing influence in the region at a time when Washington's is waning.

Wary of Hezbollah's position, thousands of Sunnis poured into the streets across Lebanon over the past two days, burning tires, throwing rocks and accusing the militant group of a coup d'etat.

Some of the most intense protests Tuesday took place in the northern city of Tripoli, a hotbed of Sunni fundamentalism and Mikati's hometown. On Wednesday, traffic had returned to normal and schools and shops had opened. Two armored personnel carriers and several soldiers stood guard nearby.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry advised its citizens on Wednesday to avoid traveling to Lebanon "until clam and stability return." Saudi Arabia, the Sunni power in the region, is a strong backer of Hariri, who also holds Saudi citizenship.

Opponents of Hezbollah, which has its own arsenal and is the country's most powerful military force, maintain that having an Iranian proxy at the helm of Lebanon's government would be disastrous and lead to international isolation.

Hariri's Future Movement placed banners in Tripoli that accused Mikati of being given a "religious assignment" by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- the spiritual leader for many Hezbollah members, including the group's chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

But both Hezbollah and Mikati are calling for a government that includes all of Lebanon's political factions, a sign that the militant group does not want to push its growing power too far and risk isolation abroad and an escalation of sectarian tensions at home.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned that formation of a government dominated by Hezbollah would mean changes in U.S. relations with Lebanon.

Lebanon's political crisis has its origins in the assassination of Hariri's father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a massive truck bombing on Feb. 14, 2005 along with 22 others.

A U.N.-backed tribunal is widely expected to accuse Hezbollah in the crime in a sealed indictment that was issued Jan. 17. Hezbollah has denied any link to the killing and accused the Netherlands-based tribunal of trying to frame its members at the behest of Israel and the United States.

Ministers from Hezbollah and its allies walked out of Saad Hariri's government, forcing it to collapse, after Hariri refused to renounce the court investigating his father's murder.

[Associated Press; By BASSEM MROUE]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.