AIRLINK 69.92 Increased By ▲ 4.72 (7.24%)
BOP 5.46 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.97%)
CNERGY 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-1.32%)
DFML 25.71 Increased By ▲ 1.19 (4.85%)
DGKC 69.85 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.16%)
FCCL 20.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-1.38%)
FFBL 30.69 Increased By ▲ 1.58 (5.43%)
FFL 9.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.81%)
GGL 10.12 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.1%)
HBL 114.90 Increased By ▲ 0.65 (0.57%)
HUBC 132.10 Increased By ▲ 3.00 (2.32%)
HUMNL 6.73 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.3%)
KEL 4.44 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KOSM 4.93 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.82%)
MLCF 36.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.55 (-1.49%)
OGDC 133.90 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (1.21%)
PAEL 22.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.18%)
PIAA 25.39 Decreased By ▼ -0.50 (-1.93%)
PIBTL 6.61 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.15%)
PPL 113.20 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (0.31%)
PRL 30.12 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (2.41%)
PTC 14.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.54 (-3.54%)
SEARL 57.55 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (0.91%)
SNGP 66.60 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (0.23%)
SSGC 10.99 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.09%)
TELE 8.77 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.34%)
TPLP 11.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-1.62%)
TRG 68.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.01%)
UNITY 23.47 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.3%)
WTL 1.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-2.9%)
BR100 7,394 Increased By 99.2 (1.36%)
BR30 24,121 Increased By 266.7 (1.12%)
KSE100 70,910 Increased By 619.8 (0.88%)
KSE30 23,377 Increased By 205.6 (0.89%)

Amr-Mussa_400DOHA: The Arab League chief said on Thursday he was ‘disturbed’ by the collapse of the Lebanese government after the ministers of the Hezbollah-led opposition walked away over the disputed UN probe into the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

"We are all disturbed," the Arab League secretary general Amr Mussa told US reporters in Doha.

"We dont want Lebanon to get back to square one. We thought we already left this station," he told journalists accompanying US State Secretary Hillary Clinton in her Gulf tour.

He also called on the Iran-and Syria-backed Shia Hezbollah militia, without naming it, to stop believing that it is targeted by the special tribunal investigating the assassination of Hariri, and that all work should focus on reaching a compromise to maintain a stable government.

"All of us, Arabs, Europeans and yourselves (United States) will have to work in order to reach a kind of compromise that would maintain the possibility of having a stable government in Lebanon," Mussa said.

"Number two: avoid the pitfalls emanating from the belief of one party that all actions, including the tribunal, are but political ploys," he said in a clear reference to Hezbollah which accuses the court of wanting its head.

"There was a crime and the crime should be investigated and the criminals should be punished... The tribunal should be above politics, the justice should have its way and Lebanon must have a government," he said.

Mussa expressed deep concerns about the current situation in Lebanon.

"The situation is bad, is tense, is threatening," he said.

Ten ministers representing Hezbollah and its allies in the unity government led by the son of slain Hariri, Saad, announced their collective resignation Wednesday.

An 11th minister close to the Maronite President Michel Sleiman also quit the 30-member cabinet, providing the minimum number of resignations required to topple the government.

For months, Hezbollah has been pressing the Western-backed Hariri to disavow the tribunal, which it says is a US-Israeli ploy.

Press leaks have said the tribunal is poised to indict senior Hezbollah members in connection with the assassination. The militant group has warned any such accusation would have grave repercussions in Lebanon.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011

Comments

Comments are closed.