BEIRUT — Ten days after he resigned under pressure from street protests, Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami on Thursday asserted that the country's pro-Syrian leadership enjoyed majority support, but he vowed to defuse the political crisis by inviting the opposition to join a new government.
President Emile Lahoud formally reappointed Karami after 71 members of the 128-seat parliament expressed support for him. Karami said the support in parliament, along with a pro-Syria rally called this week by Hezbollah that drew hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, reflected a public mandate for the current leadership.
The massive protest by the Shiite Muslim militant group was a display of its strength and made it clear that Washington and its allies cannot afford to ignore it.
Karami's reappointment struck a note of defiance by a government apparently feeling that the political winds had shifted in its favor.
"We proved that in parliament and on the street, we are the majority," Karami said during a news conference.
Despite Karami's promises to include the opposition in his new administration, hope for a break in the stalemate appeared dim. He offered no sign that he planned to meet opposition leaders' demands that a full withdrawal of Syrian troops and other conditions be fulfilled before they considered taking part in his Cabinet.
"This is an indication that they have no intention to change anything, really, in substance. This is no doubt an attempt to convey that message," said Farid Khazen, chairman of the political science department at the American University of Beirut. "The tension will continue."
Karami's reappointment signals that Syria probably will continue its deep involvement in Lebanese politics and society, analysts said.
In Washington, the administration appeared to be ready to face the reality that Hezbollah, which is listed as a terrorist group by the State Department, is an important player in Lebanese affairs. There were indications that the administration was prepared to not press a provision in a U.N. resolution calling for the immediate disarming of the group's militia.
A European diplomat, who declined to be identified, said a number of European Union nations had sought to convince the U.S. that an immediate confrontation with Hezbollah over disarmament could undermine Lebanon's fragile stability. They advocated waiting until after the May parliamentary election to put pressure on the group.
