BEIRUT, 30 March 2005 — Lebanon’s prime minister said yesterday he would step down because he could not persuade anti-Syrian opposition figures to join a national unity government to lead the country to elections due in May.
In a move that could delay those elections, Omar Karami told reporters he was not willing to lead a Cabinet that did not include both pro-Syrian loyalists and opposition.
“I am not willing to form a government of this sort and I came to put the speaker in the picture,” he said after meeting Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. “I am going to see the president to inform him of this decision.”
Karami resigned as prime minister a month ago after coming under immense popular pressure from Lebanese angered by the killing of his predecessor Rafik Hariri. But he was reappointed by Parliament to form a national unity government.
Lebanon’s opposition, which blames Syria and the Lebanese security agencies it backs for Hariri’s death, has refused to join any government until after elections it believes will give it a majority in a chamber now largely allied to Damascus.
Once officially informed of Karami’s decision, President Emile Lahoud will have to consult with deputies once again to choose a new prime minister, a process that could delay the general election much to the ire of the opposition. Opposition figures accuse Karami of procrastinating to avoid elections and had urged him to form a government without them. His old Cabinet still holds office in a caretaker capacity.
Meanwhile, the chief of Lebanese military intelligence, whose resignation has been demanded by the opposition after Hariri’s murder, has gone on “holiday for a month,” an army officer said yesterday.
Gen. Raymond Azar “obtained, at his request, administrative leave in Lebanon for one month,” said the source.
He will be replaced during the interim by Gen. Georges Khoury, chief of intelligence in the Mount Lebanon area around Beirut, the source said. The opposition has also demanded the resignation of chief prosecutor Adnan Addoum and the heads of the six intelligence services.
