US Urges Lebanon Stability Amid Escalating Tensions

The US has said it is backing Lebanese efforts to form a new coalition amid rising tension sparked by the killing of security chief Wissam al-Hassan.

US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland warned a power vacuum would pose a great risk to stability.

“The export of instability from Syria threatens the security of Lebanon now more than ever,” she said.

Deadly clashes erupted in Beirut and Tripoli after opposition figures blamed Syria for the attack on Gen Hassan.

On Saturday, President Michel Suleiman rejected an offer of resignation from Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose coalition government is dominated by the pro-Syrian Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah and its allies.

Mr Mikati said the president had asked him “to stay for a while longer” to “avoid a political vacuum”.

However, the decision prompted Fouad Siniora, a prominent member of the Western-backed 14 March opposition alliance, to warn on Sunday: “The Lebanese people won’t accept, after today, the continuation of the government of assassination.”

Speaking in Washington on Tuesday evening, Ms Nuland told reporters: “This is obviously a Lebanese affair.”

“And while we don’t want a vacuum of a legitimate political authority, we do support this process that is now under way to produce a new government that’s responsive to the needs of the Lebanese people.”

She added that the US ambassador, Maura Connelly, was due to meet Lebanese politicians to discuss the possible shape of the new coalition.

‘Designed to provoke’

Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks in Beirut with President Suleiman and Prime Minister Mikati on Tuesday.

She also warned against the dangers of a political vacuum and welcomed efforts to “maintain stability through national dialogue”.

“Such acts of terrorism are designed to provoke reaction and to create tensions,” Ms Ashton said.

BBC