LEBANON: The Lebanese government calls by-elections to replace slain members of Parliament while fighting continues in north Lebanon camp between Lebanese army and al Qaeda inspired militants

Record ID: 374828

  • Title: LEBANON: The Lebanese government calls by-elections to replace slain members of Parliament while fighting continues in north Lebanon camp between Lebanese army and al Qaeda inspired militants
  • Date: 17th June 2007
  • Summary: (W3) BEIRUT, LEBANON ( JUNE 16,2007) ( REUTERS) LEBANESE MINISTERS STANDING IN A MINUTE OF SILENCE FOR WALID EIDO, SLAIN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA DURING THE MINUTE OF SILENCE VARIOUS OF LEBANESE MINISTERS STANDING FOR MINUTE OF SILENCE CABINET MEETING LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA VARIOUS OF THE MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) L
  • Embargoed: 2nd July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABXEC20BCL2484J0RIQ4MSECXM
  • Story Text: The Lebanese government calls by-elections to replace slain members of Parliament while fighting continues in north Lebanon camp between Lebanese army and al Qaeda inspired militants . The Beirut government on Saturday (June 16) called for by-elections to fill the parliamentary seats of two assassinated anti-Syrian legislators, opening a new front in Lebanon's worst political conflict since the civil war.
    The government called by-elections for August 5 to replace Walid Eido, who was killed this week by a car bomb, and Pierre Gemayel, who was shot dead in November, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after a meeting of the anti-Syrian cabinet.
    Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, an ally of Damascus, has already declared Saturday's cabinet session illegal along with any decisions made by it, suggesting he will not approve the voting in the Beirut and nearby Metn districts.
    But the governing coalition says it will press on with the elections even if Lahoud does not give the presidential approval required by the constitution, setting the stage for a deepening of the crisis.
    "We decided to call on by-elections in Lebanon's mountain Metn district and the Beirut Bashoura district to fill the two parliamentary seats for a Maronite Christian and Sunni Muslim on Sunday, August 5th 2007," Aridi said.
    Lahoud has 15 days to approve the cabinet decree calling the by-elections. Political sources say a move by the cabinet to hold the elections without Lahoud's approval might encourage him to appoint a new cabinet, leaving Lebanon with two governments.
    The assassination of Eido, killed with nine other people on Wednesday, reduced the majority of the anti-Damascus coalition to four. The governing coalition, which has strong U.S. backing, won its majority in elections following the 2005 withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon.
    Syria was forced to pull out of Lebanon by international pressure and mass protests after the Feb. 14, 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, whose killing Hariri's allies and many other Lebanese blame on Damascus.
    Syria denies involvement in the killing of Hariri and other anti-Syrian figures including Eido, a Sunni Muslim lawmaker in Beirut, and Gemayel, who was a Maronite Christian legislator and a cabinet minister.
    Meanwhile, heavy fighting raged on Saturday between Lebanese troops and Islamist militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp.
    The fighting is Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war, killing at least 148 people, including 66 soldiers, more than 50 militants and 32 civilians. The violence has forced thousands of people to flee the camp.
    Shell explosions and sporadic bursts of machinegun fire were heard at the camp, base to the Fatah al-Islam group which is led by a Palestinian but includes fighters from other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon.
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