Cabinet crisis escalates as Christian ministers refuse Shi'as condition

[sonz]

BEIRUT, Daily Star: Lebanon's governmental crisis faced new complications Monday, with Christian ministers refusing one of the conditions set by the Shiite ministers to return to Cabinet.

Talking to The Daily Star, Tourism Minister Joseph Sarkis said his party, the Lebanese Forces, was not about to accept addressing the UN Security Council with a letter saying that the internal part of Resolution 1559 was implemented.

Resolution 1559 calls for, among other things, the disarmament of Hizbullah and Palestinian militias, but the Lebanese government had said the issue should be solved through internal dialogue.

However, addressing a letter to the UN indicating that Lebanon has fully implemented 1559 has emerged as one of the main demands of the ministers of Hizbullah and the Amal Movement to end their 15-day-long boycott of Cabinet meetings and to resume their duties.

"Our formal position on this issue is what was announced in the Ministerial Statement ... that implementing the internal part of UN Resolution 1559 is left to internal dialogue, and this dialogue has not taken pace yet," Sarkis said.

"Before we address such a letter, we have to demarcate the borders between us and Syria, determine which part of the Shebaa Farms is Lebanese and which part is Syrian, discuss how to free the Lebanese part, and when that happens we would discuss the disarmament of Hizbullah," he added.

"Only when all that takes place will we send the UN Security Council a letter saying that UN Resolution 1559 is implemented on the Lebanese internal level."

Asked whether he anticipated a crisis should Hizbullah and Amal insist on their demand, Sarkis said: "Of course."

The Shiite ministers suspended their participation in the government in protest of the use of majority voting instead of across the board consensus on all national issues.

Sarkis had met with Premier Fouad Siniora earlier in the day, as part of the wide consultations Siniora held with several ministers to fill them in on the course of the discussions with the Shiite ministers.

Sources close to Siniora said that the main point discussed in the premier's many meetings Monday was the Shiite ministers' demands regarding 1559, but added that the situation was not very "positive."

"The premier was conveying to the other ministers in Cabinet what the Hizbullah and Amal ministers wanted, but through the reaction of his visitors you can tell the situation was not very positive," the sources said.

Following her meeting with Siniora, Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad said although she welcomed the principle of dialogue, she refused "the quadruple alliance mentioned in the last couple of days."

Criticizing the Hizbullah-Amal-MP Saad Hariri-MP Walid Jumblatt axle, which appeared to be elaborating in the last couple of days through the intensive dialogue between these four parties in order to solve the Cabinet crisis, Mouawad said: "This talk about a quadruple alliance is what hit the spirit of March 14 and marginalized the Christian political participation in Lebanon. Instead of such an alliance, a national dialogue with all Lebanese political parties should occur."

Mouawad added that she will discuss this issue with her political partners before returning to Siniora within two days "with answers."

Siniora also met with a number of other ministers, including Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamade, Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa and Justice Minister Charles Rizk.

The gloomy atmosphere mirrored by the Christian ministers' position Monday was met with an equally staunch position from Hizbullah.

Speaking to Ad-Diyar daily in an interview published Tuesday, Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem painted a dark picture of the Cabinet crisis, and held Siniora responsible for the impasse.

"The Taif Accord does not recognize a premier who takes decisions on his own ... and Premier Siniora has taken many individual steps, and threw against the wall all the talks we were holding with him, including talks concerning the Palestinian presence in Lebanon and the issue of refugee camps," Qassem said, adding the Shiite Street had the right to "feel offended, because what happened in Cabinet was very dangerous."

Meanwhile, a delegation from Hariri's Future Movement met Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, after which MP Ahmad Fatfat said the meeting was "very positive."

"We discussed a lot of current issues, and the most importantly the need for a comprehensive national dialogue," Fatfat said.

Fatfat also commented on a statement made Sunday by MP Walid Jumblatt, where he asked Hizbullah to be of "Lebanese loyalty."

Fatfat said: "Sayyed Nasrallah considered that Jumblatt has his way in political expression, and we are all used to this way right now."

"We know, through trial, that Jumblatt has a constructive solution eventually," he added.

Jumblatt had urged Hizbullah Sunday to join the Lebanese anti-Syrian movement in its call for a free and sovereign Lebanon, saying he hoped "those who have liberated the South from the Israeli occupation to have loyalty for the nation."

Jumblatt added: "We say to Sayyed Hassan (Nasrallah), it is not a shame for us to be Lebanese."

Sources in Hizbullah said Monday the party "will not enter a war of words with Jumblatt, because his way in issuing opinions changes and we will wait for his position to shift in the future for other reasons."