Tension in Lebanon after government collapse

Lebanon’s President Michel Suleiman has asked Prime Minister Saad Hariri to remain as head of a caretaker administration after the collapse of his government. The move follows the resignation of one-third of the cabinet Wednesday. 11 Hezbollah and allied ministers quit amid tensions over a UN-backed investigation into the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in a huge truck bombing that killed 22 others in Beirut.

An international tribunal investigating the assassination is due to issue indictments, and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Nasrallah has said he expects members of his Shi’ite movement to be accused of involvement.

Disputes over the tribunal have paralyzed the government for months, with Hezbollah denouncing the Netherlands-based court as a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy, and urging the prime minister to reject any of its findings.

Tension over the tribunal has divided the Lebanese and many fear it could lead to renewed sectarian violence which has repeatedly plagued their small nation.

Dr. Khalil Karam, Vice President of the Catholic St. Joseph’s University in Beirut, told Vatican Radio that as a national unity government formed on the heels of a contentious 2009 election, the cabinet had found it “very hard” to find consensus on critical issues.

“I think the opposition wanted to leave this cabinet and to try to bring to power a new government that might be able to run the country – that is what they say.”

Karam points to the tribunal as “the major reason for blowing up the team.”

“It’s not a secret, he says, “that half of the country is not happy with the outcome of what’s (likely to happen)…nobody knows (what the tribunal will rule)…. I think (Hezbollah) were anxious because they maybe have received hints or signals saying (they were involved). It is still an investigation, not an indictment, so it’s too early to make a judgement…the country is split in two: half of it is for the tribunal and half of it doesn’t trust it anymore.”

Karam says it is “a big challenge for the President of the Republic right now to try to find an understanding between these two big groups to rebuild a cabinet and try to find a solution to these critical issues.”

Listen to Tracey McClure’s full interview: