Saad Hariri

Saad Hariri, the wealthy leader of an American-backed political coalition, was appointed prime minister of Lebanon on Saturday, an indication that the nation's sectarian political parties, at least for now, are cooperating on the contentious task of forming a unity government. Hariri's ascent is the culmination of a political journey that accelerated after the 2005 assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister and billionaire developer.

Lebanon's long-standing political crisis deepened Monday when supporters of the country's Sunni Muslim leadership called for protests over the apparently imminent appointment of a Hezbollah-backed candidate as the prime minister of a new government. Supporters of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri vowed to take to the streets Tuesday in a "day of popular anger" in response to the announcement that a bloc headed by Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group, would back businessman Najib Mikati for the premier's post.

When it comes to strange Middle East bedfellows, Lebanon's latest political partnership may be the most unlikely: The leader of one party has a reputation as a playboy with ties to neoconservatives in the Bush administration. The other group is widely viewed as a community of extremists whose puritanical strain of Sunni Islam inspired Osama bin Laden.

The U.S.-backed parliamentary coalition led by caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri was on the verge of losing its tenuous grip on the Lebanese government after a key politician defected Friday to support the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. The decision by Walid Jumblatt, a Druze chieftain and longtime player amid Lebanon's fractious parties, to back Hezbollah, which is supported by Syria, highlighted the dangerous regional maneuverings across the troubled Lebanese political scene.

Lebanon's U.S.-backed prime minister-designate abruptly quit today, plunging the nation deeper into a political crisis over failed efforts to form a government. Saad Hariri, whose March 14 coalition of political parties trounced a Hezbollah-backed alliance in June 7 elections, announced that he was stepping down from his post after failing to form a Cabinet. He blamed the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition for making unreasonable demands. "After a final round of negotiations, it became clear to me that some, with their impossible demands, are in no way going to allow the proposed Cabinet lineup to pass," Hariri, leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community, sadi in a televised statement after meeting with President Michel Suleiman.

Saad Hariri, the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, swept parliamentary elections in Lebanon's capital Sunday, inheriting the public mantle left by his father and shoring up his chances of becoming prime minister. A soft-spoken, billionaire businessman who insists that he wasn't groomed for politics, the 35-year-old Hariri headed a bloc of candidates that won all 19 of the city's seats in the first election since Syrian troops ended their 29-year domination of Lebanon.

Reports that a U.N. tribunal will blame the Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri have triggered fears of violence in this small, unstable country. Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said late Thursday that Saad Hariri, the current prime minister and son of the slain Sunni politician, had told him that United Nations investigators examining the assassination would pin responsibility on "undisciplined members" of Hezbollah.

Five prominent, staunchly pro-Syria officials were detained, questioned and named as suspects Tuesday in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. It was the first time investigators had publicly identified suspects in the massive Feb. 14 car bombing that killed 20 people, including Hariri, a popular, self-made billionaire who had grown increasingly opposed to Syria's involvement in Lebanon.

The Lebanese army flooded the streets of the northern city of Tripoli with troops Saturday, restoring a precarious calm after fierce sectarian fighting left nine people dead in two days, a military official said. Local television showed men firing machine guns and grenade launchers as street clashes raged between armed toughs loyal to Sunni Muslim leader Saad Hariri, who is backed by the West, and members of the Alawite Shiite Muslim sect, who are close to Syria and the Iranian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Syrian President Bashar Assad visited Beirut on Friday in a show of unity before an international tribunal's indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The visit appeared to be an attempt to quell anxiety in Lebanon that followed a speech last week by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the militant group Hezbollah, in which he denied links between his party and Hariri's death. Nasrallah called the tribunal's investigation an "Israeli project."

Lebanon's prime minister kicked off a three-day visit to Iran on Saturday meant to strengthen economic and political bonds between the United States' chief regional adversary and a nation Washington once upheld as a model for Western-leaning Arab democracy. The first official visit to Iran by Prime Minister Saad Hariri comes as sectarian tensions within Lebanon simmer. An international tribunal is expected to indict members of the Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah in the 2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a Sunni Muslim.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Syrian President Bashar Assad visited Beirut on Friday in a show of unity before an international tribunal's indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The visit appeared to be an attempt to quell anxiety in Lebanon that followed a speech last week by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the militant group Hezbollah, in which he denied links between his party and Hariri's death. Nasrallah called the tribunal's investigation an "Israeli project."

Reports that a U.N. tribunal will blame the Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri have triggered fears of violence in this small, unstable country. Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said late Thursday that Saad Hariri, the current prime minister and son of the slain Sunni politician, had told him that United Nations investigators examining the assassination would pin responsibility on "undisciplined members" of Hezbollah.

In the fall of 1991, I was an undergraduate student at Georgetown University, following the coverage of the Madrid peace conference. In the Spanish capital, the United States had managed to gather Arabs and Israelis around a table with the aim of ending what was then half a century of war and desperation, whose first victims were the people of the region, including the people of my country, Lebanon. As I prepared to make my first official visit to Washington as prime minister of Lebanon, I couldn't help but reflect on the price the entire word has paid since the Madrid conference failed to bring peace to the Middle East and justice to the Palestinians.

After a months-long deadlock, Lebanon's rival political camps agreed to a unity government that includes both American-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim political party and militia that the United States considers a terrorist organization. Resolution of Lebanon's political crisis could ease regional tensions between U.S.-backed Sunni Arab states on the one hand and Iran and Syria, which back Hezbollah, on the other. But the question of Hezbollah's arsenal -- which is in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions -- will probably remain unresolved in the short term.

Lebanon's president designated Saad Hariri prime minister on Wednesday, asking the Saudi- and U.S.-backed politician to take on the tough job of forming a new government for a second time. Hariri was first designated prime minister in June but stepped down last week, blaming rival politicians, including the Iran- and Syria-backed Hezbollah, for thwarting his attempts to forge a government including all of Lebanon's main parties. His move triggered consultations this week between President Michel Suleiman and lawmakers that resulted in Hariri, son of assassinated statesman Rafik Hariri, being nominated again.

Anti-Syria politicians appeared to have won control of Lebanon's parliament Sunday as the nation's first elections since the end of Syrian domination wound to a stormy and religiously divisive finish. A loose coalition of Sunni Muslims, Christians and Druze headed by Saad Hariri, a 35-year-old billionaire and political novice, pulled off a victory in the bitterly divided northern regions of Lebanon, sources in his camp said.

Lebanon's U.S.-backed prime minister-designate abruptly quit today, plunging the nation deeper into a political crisis over failed efforts to form a government. Saad Hariri, whose March 14 coalition of political parties trounced a Hezbollah-backed alliance in June 7 elections, announced that he was stepping down from his post after failing to form a Cabinet. He blamed the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition for making unreasonable demands. "After a final round of negotiations, it became clear to me that some, with their impossible demands, are in no way going to allow the proposed Cabinet lineup to pass," Hariri, leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community, sadi in a televised statement after meeting with President Michel Suleiman.