Hezbollah to Nominate Billionaire Najib Mikati as Lebanese Prime Minister

[oberliner]

The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement and its allies will nominate former Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a billionaire businessman, to head Lebanon’s next government after they toppled the coalition led by Saad Hariri.

Mikati “is a consensus candidate,” Ali Hamdan, an adviser to Parliament Speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri, said in a phone interview today. Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim el-Moussawi confirmed his group’s backing for Mikati, 55, by text message.

President Michel Suleiman started talks with lawmakers today to choose a new prime minister. Hezbollah and its allies walked out of the government on Jan. 12 to protest the United Nations inquiry into the killing of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Saad’s father. The Shiite Muslim group has demanded that the probe be canceled, saying it was instigated by the U.S. to target Hezbollah.

Mikati’s prospect of taking over from Hariri, who has been re-nominated as premier by the pro-Western parties that support him, may depend on the parliamentary bloc headed by Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. Jumblatt last week switched his support from Hariri to the Hezbollah camp, without saying whether all the 10 lawmakers in his group would follow.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-24/hezbollah-to-nominate-billionaire-najib-mikati-as-lebanese-prime-minister.html

[bemildred]

1. Hezbollah wins enough support to name new Lebanon PM

BEIRUT - Hezbollah has secured the support from a majority of parliament to nominate its candidate for prime minister, putting the Iranian- and Syrian-backed militant group in position to control Lebanon's new government.

Hezbollah toppled Saad Hariri's Western-backed unity government on January 12 over his refusal to renounce a United Nations-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/hezbollah-wins-enough-support-to-name-new-lebanon-pm-1.338906

[oberliner]

2. Lebanon's Hariri refuses to join Hezbollah-led govt

BEIRUT — Lebanon's acting Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday ruled out joining a government led by a Hezbollah-appointed candidate, his office said, as consultations on nominating a new premier were under way.

"The (Hariri-led) Future Movement announces its refusal to participate in a government headed by a candidate named by the opposition," the statement said, referring to Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g97cMFVYjjI_0llfffmms7H9hiwg?docId=CNG.85bc84cf65dec965e2307bfe85784c7f.431

[bemildred]

3. He sounds annoyed. nt

[oberliner]

4. I'm sure everything will work out nicely

I can't imagine this leading to any kind of conflict between any of the different factions in Lebanon.