Sunday Times 2
Lebanese Prime Minister resigns
View(s):BEIRUT, March 23 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced his government’s resignation on Friday after a cabinet dispute with Shi’ite group Hezbollah over preparations for a parliamentary election and extending the term of a senior security official.
Mikati’s announcement after a deadlocked ministerial meeting plunged Lebanon, already struggling to cope with a spillover of bloodshed and refugees from neighbouring Syria, into fresh uncertainty three months before the planned election.
He called for a unity government to be set up to save the country from “regional fires and … internal divisions”.
“I announce the resignation of the government, perhaps as the only way for Lebanon’s main political blocs to assume their responsibilities, and come together to pull Lebanon out of an unknown tunnel,” Mikati said.
Mikati resigned just two hours after a cabinet meeting in which Shi’ite group Hezbollah and its allies blocked the creation of a supervisory body for the parliamentary vote and opposed extending the term of a senior security official.
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