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Unity government in Lebanon

— Photo: AFP

Hands full: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at a press conference in Beirut.

DUBAI: After a prolonged period of bitter political wrangling and internal conflict, Lebanon has a national unity government.

Secretary-General of the Lebanese Cabinet Souhail Bouji announced that a new government had been formed following a meeting between President Michel Sleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri. The President issued two decrees on Friday.

The first recorded the resignation of the government headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The second announced the name of Mr. Siniora as the head of the new government.

The new government strikes a delicate balance between the pro-western forces and the opposition, which has close ties with Syria and Iran.

While the western supported parliamentary block has a numerical edge, the opposition, backed by the Shia movement Hizbollah and Amal has enough support to veto legislation that it does not approve. The opposition has 11 out of 30 Cabinet births. The deal was the result of talks in May which resulted on account of mediation by Qatar.

Analysts point out that the new Cabinet line-up represents a major victory for Hizbollah, which is now beginning to translate its military capability into concrete political achievement.

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