Naming of Hezbollah PM sparks riots in Lebanon

HUNDREDS of protesters burned tires and blocked roads across Lebanon yesterday after a Hezbollah-backed politician was named prime minister, shifting the balance of power in the country toward Syria and Iran.

The nomination of Najib Mikati is seen as a victory for Hezbollah, which is trying to fend off a UN-backed tribunal set up in 2005 to try the killers of statesman Rafik al-Hariri and is expected to accuse members of the Shi’ite group.

Sunni Muslims loyal to outgoing premier Saad al-Hariri, Rafik’s son who has Western and Saudi backing, staged a “day of rage” to protest the appointment of Sunni billionaire Mikati, a centrist lawmaker with ties to both Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Hezbollah’s enhanced political strength will set off alarm bells in Israel which in 2006 fought a five-week war in a failed attempt to destroy the Iran-backed movement’s military capacity.

Mikati, a telecoms tycoon, said he would start talks to form a government tomorrow and appealed to all Lebanese factions to overcome their differences. “All Lebanese leaders should cooperate together to face the current challenges,” he said from the presidential palace after he accepted his nomination by President Michel Suleiman.

Hezbollah and its allies quit Hariri’s unity government earlier this month, after the failure of a Syrian-Saudi effort to bridge a rift over the tribunal.