Consultations to name a new prime minister in Lebanon after the fall of the government of Saad Hariri, have been postponed by one week. These consultations between President Suleiman and the parliamentary groups were originally scheduled to begin on Monday, following the collapse January 12 of the coalition government, caused by the resignation of ministers of the powerful Shiite party Hezbollah and its allies."After evaluating the positions of different parties in Lebanon (...) President Michel Suleiman has decided to postpone the parliamentary consultations on Monday, January 24 and Tuesday, January 25, 2011," said a statement from the president. This new political crisis in Lebanon has its origins in the indictment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), tasked with investigating the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The surrender of the indictment to the judge took place Monday at a closed hearing at the court location, near The Hague. Several foreign media reported that the STL would cause members of Hezbollah. The indictments, confidential, were presented by the prosecutor Daniel Bellemare to judge the readiness, the Belgian Daniel Fransen, examine them for their confirmation, a process that could take "six to ten weeks" .
The powerful armed movement warned on Sunday that he will "defend" against any charge. Mohamed Chatah, an adviser to Prime Minister in office, on Monday welcomed "the efforts being made at home and abroad" to break the deadlock, with particular reference to the leaders' meeting Syrian, Turkish and Qatari this day in Damascus.
"All these things are aimed at finding a way to resolve the crisis and ensure that the political impasse does not degenerate into something worse," he said. The adviser to Prime Minister regretted that the solution comes from outside: "From our point of view, the fact that this is happening elsewhere leaves a bitter taste." "After all it is a Lebanese political crisis , whose address is to be here.
" He said that the Hariri bloc will not join a government headed by someone other than the Prime Minister in office. Mr. Chatah also stressed that "it is clear to many of us it will be very difficult to form a government whatever the outcome of consultations." For his part, Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon called Monday, Jan.
17 not to "politicize" the action of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the center of a controversy that caused the fall of Lebanese government. Mr. Ban has asked that we do not prejudge the conclusions of TSL, and called for the rapid formation of a new Lebanese government. The Lebanese foreign minister in office has also said on Monday, having summoned the U.S.
ambassador, accusing him meeting with an MP, a former ally of Prime Minister. "The minister Ali Al-Shami considers this type of communication as interference in Lebanese internal politics," the ministry said. The U.S. ambassador met with Maura Connelly Christian MP Nicolas Fattouch, Sunday, following the collapse last week of the unity government of Lebanon Saad Hariri.
Mr. Fattouch was originally one of the allies of Hariri, but had subsequently distanced himself from the Hariri camp. An embassy official confirmed the meeting between the Ambassador and Mr Chami, while stressing that Washington was not seeking to interfere in Lebanese affairs.
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