Wednesday 28 May 2008
One week after the successful conclusion of the talks in Doha, Lebanon has a new president - the consensus candidate Michel Suleiman - and the parliamentary majority has nominated outgoing Prime Minister, Fouad Sinioura, as their choice to form the next government. Now begins the process of forming the new 30 member cabinet, in which the majority will nominate 16 members, the Hizbullah led opposition 11 and the president 3. No doubt there will be a lot of negotiating and who gets which ministry, but the process, lead by the new president, is expected to be completed fairly quickly.
What does all this mean for Lebanon and the region? The election and swearing-in of the new president on Sunday evening was attended by, among others, the foreign ministers of Syria and Iran (who sat side by side), the Saudi, French and Italian foreign ministers and, of course the Ruler of Qatar and his prime minister, through whose efforts the compromise was reached. Also present was a US Congressional delegation of 6 people, and another, somewhat strange, attendee was the Turkish prime minister. We must remember, however, that Israel and Syria are at present conducting peace talks under Turkish auspices; could it be that Mr Erdogan was testing the waters on the possibility of bringing Lebanon into the peace talks?
It is impossible that the deal done in Doha could have materialised without the agreement of Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Undoubtably, all were concerned that the events in Lebanon could develop into a wider Sunni-Shia conflict in the Middle East, something which, it seems, none of them wants at this time.
If the Syrian/Israeli talks produce results it will be a blow for Hizbullah and Iran, but can only benefit Lebanon. Little is likely to happen until a change of Administration in Washington and we must hope and pray that Mr Bush does not decide to embark on any more ill-advised ventures in the region during his last months in office.
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