Lebanese in deepening political crisis

A Lebanese Cabinet minister allied with Hezbollah resigned today, making him the sixth to quit in recent days.

The National News Agency in Beirut said environment minister Yaacoub Sarraf submitted his resignation in a letter to prime minister Fuad Saniora.

Sarraf, a Christian, joins five Shiite Muslim ministers who quit on Saturday. The move further hampers the government’s effectiveness.

The resignation came just before the 24-member Cabinet planned to meet despite an announcement by president Emile Lahoud that the Western-backed Cabinet lost its legitimacy after the resignations of the Hezbollah and Amal ministers.

Sarraf is an independent, but is allied with pro-Syrian Lahoud and Hezbollah.