9 November 2009 / AP, BEIRUT
Lebanon’s Syrian-backed factions finally agreed on a unity government proposed by their pro-Western rivals on Saturday, ending a four-month deadlock in the deeply divided country.
The announcement by the opposition coalition dominated by the militant Hezbullah group came after a meeting late on Friday night between the groups’ leaders including Hassan Nasrallah. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri was informed the next day. The agreement would end a political deadlock that has threatened to send the fragile nation spiraling back into violence. Hariri has been trying to form a Cabinet since June, when his western-backed coalition narrowly defeated Hezbullah and their allies and retained a slim majority in the 128-member legislature. Both groups agreed from the beginning on a complicated power sharing formula that gives Hariri’s coalition 15 seats in the next government and the Hezbullah-led minority 10 seats, with five other seats to be filled by President Michel Suleiman, who is seen as a neutral figure.
