BEIRUT, 10 September 2004 — Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri announced yesterday that his government would resign this month, bringing to a head a political crisis over Syrian domination of the country’s domestic affairs.
“The government will hold its last Cabinet meeting on the 20th of this month ... and then will come the change,” Hariri told journalists after a Cabinet meeting.
His announcement came amid mounting tensions between Lebanon’s political masters in Damascus and the United States.
Hariri, a business tycoon who has been a mainstay of Lebanese politics for years, declined to say whether he would head the new government, saying only that it was necessary to await the results of discussions.
He is the political archrival of pro-Damascus President Emile Lahoud, whose mandate was extended on Friday after the Lebanese Parliament bowed to Syrian pressure to change the constitution to allow the move.
The vote, which has already seen four Cabinet ministers resign in protest, came a day after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution backing Lebanon’s sovereignty and implicitly censuring Damascus.
The resolution, which also called for foreign troops to withdraw from Lebanon and for all militia to be disbanded, was drafted by the United States and France — traditionally a friend of Syria.
Damascus maintains at least 16,000 troops in Lebanon, a holdover from a larger contingent sent in during the 1975-1990 civil war, and supports Hezbollah, which controls areas in the south of the country.
The amendment giving Lahoud another three years in office came under fire both from abroad and from Christians in Lebanon who are the most vocally opposed to the role of Damascus.
US Middle East envoy Nicholas Burns, currently on a tour of the region, is expected to visit Syria in the coming days despite worsening relations, which has seen Washington slap sanctions on Damascus accusing it of supporting terrorism and seeking banned weapons.
Hariri has been prime minister since 1992, apart from a brief period from 1998 to 2000. The latest government was formed in April 2003.
A Sunni Muslim, he was first asked to form a government as Lebanon was emerging from the massive destruction caused by years of civil strife.
Admirers of Hariri see him as responsible for getting the country’s economy back on its feet after the civil war, while his critics accuse him of being a spendthrift.
