Lebanon's political crisis heading for showdown

By Staff
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BEIRUT, Nov 24 (Reuters) Hezbollah will take to the streets next week to try to topple the government, political sources said today, in a move that would stoke tension in a country already reeling after the assassination of a minister.

A political crisis has been brewing for weeks with the pro-Syrian Hezbollah demanding more say in a government dominated by ministers from an anti-Damascus coalition.

The anti-Syrian camp's rejection of that demand means Hezbollah will now work to bring down Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's 16-month-old government. Siniora's allies say Hezbollah's real aims are to block an international court into the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

''We are heading for a confrontation,'' a senior political source close to the opposition said. ''The room for a political solution is very, very tight.

''There is no room other than going to the street,'' he said.

The mood in Lebanon is already volatile.

Hundreds of angry Shi'ite Muslims took to the streets in a Beirut suburb yesterday to protest at what they said were insults against Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at the funeral of an assassinated anti-Syrian minister the same day.

Nasrallah himself had to appeal for the protesters to disperse before the late-night demonstrations ended peacefully.

All six opposition ministers -- five Shi'ites and a Christian -- quit Siniora's government this month after the majority coalition refused to include enough pro-Syrians in the 24-member cabinet to give the opposition effective veto power.

PLANS DISRUPTED Hezbollah and its allies had been expected to start protests this week but Tuesday's killing of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, a Maronite Christian, put their plans on hold.

Anti-Syrian leaders who spoke to a large crowd at Gemayel's funeral intensified their attacks on Nasrallah and his Christian ally Michel Aoun.

They called on the opposition to return to the fold but reiterated that they would not submit to its demands.

They accuse Hezbollah of stirring up the political crisis to block a UN-backed special tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 killing of Hariri and other politicians and journalists over the past two years.

Many in Lebanon accuse Syria of being behind the attacks.

Damascus denies any involvement. The preliminary reports of a UN inquiry implicated Syrian and Lebanese security officials.

Siniora has called his depleted cabinet to meet tomorrow approve final plans for the tribunal, in a move that political sources said had further angered the opposition.

The pro-Syrian camp says the cabinet lost its constitutional legitimacy in Lebanon's consensus-based sectarian power-sharing system when all its Shi'ite ministers resigned.

Another political source said Siniora's call to ratify UN plans for the tribunal ''closes the door for a compromise''.

The source said the opposition protests would take place in several parts of Lebanon, not just Beirut.

He said the opposition was considering add other options to its campaign, including sit-ins, strikes by government workers and the resignation of opposition parliamentarians.

There are 57 opposition MPs in the 128-member chamber. Their resignation would trigger by-elections, not a general election.

REUTERS DKA BST2058

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