Lebanese PM and cabinet resign

[emad]

BBC News


a
Hariri has served as PM for 10 of the last 12 years

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and his cabinet have resigned after weeks of political uncertainty.

He submitted the resignation to President Emile Lahoud during a brief meeting at the presidential palace.

Mr Hariri - a billionaire businessman - has led Lebanon for most of the period since the civil war ended in 1990.

Government has been paralysed over a dispute between the president's Syrian political backers and opponents of Syria's domination of Lebanon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3759914.stm

[CHIMO]

1. Lebanese PM quits amid political crisis

Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri has resigned, bringing to a head a political crisis that has paralysed Lebanon for weeks.


"I have ... submitted the resignation of the government, and I have declared that I will not be a candidate to head the government," he said in a statement on Wednesday, blaming internal political differences for his decision.

Hariri, 59, a Sunni Muslim who has been prime minister for most of the past 12 years, had first announced early last month that he planned to resign amid a political crisis over Syria's influence in Lebanese affairs.

A presidential statement said Hariri submitted his resignation to President Emile Lahud, his main political rival who is favoured by Lebanon's political masters in Damascus.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/23AC75DA-48C8-4CC7-8285-9838E881E075.htm

[daleo]

2. A prelude to something?

"Government has been paralysed over a dispute between the president's Syrian political backers and opponents of Syria's domination of Lebanon."

These days you can you always have to wonder.