President pledges "national government" for Lebanon

BEIRUT, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Lebanon's president, an opponent of the ruling majority, said today the country would have a ''national government'' no matter what the cost.

The Lebanese cabinet's Shi'ite Muslim members, from the pro-Syrian Hezbollah and Amal groups, resigned a week ago after the collapse of all-party talks.

Opponents of the pro-Western majority say the absence of an entire sect from cabinet makes the government unconstitutional.

Government posts in Lebanon are divided along confessional lines between the country's array of religious communities.

President Emile Lahoud, a Maronite Christian allied to Damascus, said the situation was ''delicate because what is happening violates the Taif agreement and the constitution''.

The Taif agreement ended Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

''I promise you that Lebanon will witness the establishment of a national government no matter what the cost and if that does not happen the price will be high, especially for future generations,'' Lahoud said in a statement.

''Taking big and important decisions by one party causes problems in the country and we absolutely do not want that,'' Lahoud said during a meeting with a visiting Lebanese delegation.

The cabinet met on Monday despite the absence of the five Shi'ite ministers and another Christian minister allied to Lahoud to approve the draft UN framework for a special tribunal into the killing of Rafik al-Hariri last year.

Many Lebanese blame Damascus for the killing and a UN commission investigating the assassination has implicated senior Syrian and Lebanese security officials. Damascus denies involvement.

Lahoud has said the session which approved the draft was unconstitutional. He said in the statement he was committed to the establishment of the tribunal.

But ''the framework which the United Nations sent will not allow the court to judge justly'', the statement said.

''Therefore, the passing of this agreement in its current text will bring about problems and will inflict injustice on people because politics will infiltrate the court,'' Lahoud said.

The UN Security Council will meet on Monday to discuss the draft.

The United States has said it hopes for approval of the draft within days and it does not expect Lahoud's objections to affect deliberations.

Russia questioned on Thursday whether the depleted government had acted legitimately in approving the court.

REUTERS MS RAI2017