With the elections fever over, Lebanon begins its tough march towards sovereignty and national reconciliation, Mohahel Fakih reports "We can only build the country through a cohesive, qualified and honest government team," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora -- a top ally of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri -- recently said. If not the first, Siniora is certainly the most current state executive to face the full gamut of this tiny nation's political, social and economic complexities. Siniora was appointed by pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud after receiving the support of all but two MPs in the newly-elected 128-member parliament. A majority of MPs in the legislature are from the anti-Syrian camp. Tensions were high during the elections. A supporter of Suleiman Franjieh, a staunch ally of Damascus who was defeated in the polls, killed two supporters of the Christian Lebanese Forces last week. Three people earlier died from celebratory gunfire when Nabih Berri, the Muslim Shia leader of the pro-Syrian Amal Movement, was re-elected parliament speaker. After garnering record house support, the reform-minded economist Siniora is engaged in an uphill battle to form a new government. Hard-line MP Michel Aoun, a former army commander who recently returned from Syrian-forced exile in France, declined to join. Aoun, now the strongest and most popular Christian politician, wanted the Justice Ministry for his Free Patriotic Movement, but Saad Al-Hariri, leading the largest bloc in parliament -- 37 MPs -- insisted the ministry be run by one of his allies due to an ongoing UN Security Council commissioned probe into the bombing that killed his late father. Sensitive to Lebanon's delicate sectarian balance, Al-Hariri, a Sunni Muslim said "There is no difference between a Muslim and a Christian since we are all Lebanese ... We have to stand together to revive the country; before us is a unique and golden opportunity, with the entire world wanting to help us." While saying "It is impossible to fulfil the wishes of Michel Aoun," Siniora vowed to engage in "constructive cooperation" with the man known as "the General". The civil war veteran, Aoun, did not blame Al-Hariri for the impasse, but accused his most strident critic, Progressive Socialist Party leader Druze MP Walid Jumblatt, without naming him, of blocking an agreement to include his 21-member legislative bloc in the first government to be formed without direct Syrian involvement. Despite the deadlock, Aoun told supporters "not to be pessimistic", because "Lebanon will [progress towards] better circumstances." He is now expected to lead a lively and active opposition to government policy. President Lahoud, a Maronite Christian and former foe of Aoun, but now his ally, had no legal choice but to name Siniora. However, Lahoud, who defied calls by the anti-Syrian opposition for his dismissal, could block a government line-up that did not include pro-Syrian ministers. Portfolios are distributed according to strict religious quotas to protect the rights of the country's 17 different sects. Hizbullah, the Muslim Shia party backed by Damascus and Tehran, is already vying for two posts, and for the first time. Hizbullah and its allied Amal Movement control 35 seats in parliament. They swept into victory in South Lebanon on a platform of rejecting United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559's demand for disarming Hizbullah, the group which helped end Israel's occupation of Lebanon in May 2000. "It is our right to directly take part in decision-making," Mohamed Raad, head of Hizbullah's bloc in parliament told reporters. He said the group will no longer rely on its allies in cabinet, but seeks direct representation. Hizbullah proved to be a decisive political force in elections and is clearly the strongest representative of Lebanon's largest sect. It is facing mounting international pressure to disarm. Inside Lebanon there are calls for dialogue over the group's military wing. Meanwhile, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Hizbullah's Secretary-General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, held groundbreaking talks with ex-President Amin Jumayel, a conservative Maronite Christian. Jumayel, who was perceived as an ally of Israel during the civil war, called for "a serious and transparent dialogue with Hizbullah", over its weapons and pointed out that "there is no national consensus", on the Muslim Shia group's arms. Hizbullah had voiced readiness to launch a nation-wide dialogue over a possible restructuring of its military, but made clear it would not lay down its arms as long as Israel posed "a threat" to Lebanon. Hizbullah was the only Lebanese faction not to disarm following the civil war as it was fighting Israel in the south. "We cannot reject UN Security Council Resolution 1559 ... but we will ask the United Nations to allow us to resolve what is left of its clauses through internal dialogue," Siniora said after his appointment. Highlighting the dangerous challenge that the new prime minister is already confronting, heavy clashes erupted along the volatile Shebaa Farms border hill last week, killing a Hizbullah fighter and an Israeli soldier. Israel claimed the Hizbullah fighter, Melhem Salhab, was killed in a botched commando operation to capture Israeli soldiers. But MP Mohamed Raad denied the account, saying Israel was only justifying an "aggression against Lebanon". He accused Israeli troops of breaching the UN-demarcated "Blue Line" border, drawing Hizbullah fire. The incident last Wednesday resulted in three days of Israeli air strikes against border villages. The United Nations had ruled when Israel evacuated South Lebanon that the Shebaa Farms was Israeli-occupied but belonged to Syria. Damascus and Beirut claimed the region was Lebanese and justified continued Hizbullah operations there. The fate of the former Israeli proxy militia that helped Israel occupy Lebanese territory is also hanging. Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir urged authorities in Beirut, "in the spirit of national reconciliation", to allow hundreds of fighters and their families to return home after they fled to Israel. To the north, Syria claimed that it killed an Arab extremist near the Lebanese border and arrested 34 other foreign militants who were trying to infiltrate Lebanon. Earlier, the US decided to freeze the assets of former Syrian intelligence chiefs in Lebanon Rustom Ghazali and Ghazi Kenaan (Kenaan is now Syria's interior minister). Washington charged Kenaan with helping Hizbullah, listed as a terrorist organisation in the US. Syria's official news agency, SANA, said the US was only diverting attention from Israeli "aggression" in South Lebanon.
