Hizbollah threatens street protests

Hizbollah and its allies will stage peaceful street protests after the collapse of Lebanon's all-party talks on giving them more say in government, Hizbollah's deputy chief said yesterday.

Five Shi'ite Muslim ministers from Hizbollah and its ally, the Amal movement, resigned from the Cabinet on Saturday, hours after the talks on the pro-Syrian camp's demand for effective veto power in government were deadlocked.

"This was a first step. There will be other steps that we will discuss in detail with our allies and which we will announce gradually," Hizbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Kassem told Reuters by telephone.

He said the talks had failed because anti-Syrian majority leaders had refused to allow others effective participation in running the country.

Asked whether the government would face street protests, Mr Kassem said: "I can say that this campaign will be varied and effective. Going down to the streets is one of the important steps that Hizbollah and its allies will take."

Anti-Syrian leaders have pledged counter-demonstrations should Hizbollah take the political crisis to the streets, raising fears of confrontations and violence at a time of rising tension between Sunnis and Shi'ites.

"Our movement is completely peaceful... It will not be a one-off (protest) but rather an action that would be effective on the political issue," Mr Kassem said.

The anti-Syrian majority coalition later accused Hizbollah of implementing a Syrian-Iranian plan to overthrow the government and foil UN efforts to set up a court to try the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. "The hidden plot has been revealed. It's a Syrian-Iranian plot to launch a coup against the legitimacy, stop the establishment of an international tribunal and foil (UN) resolution 1701," it said in a statement.

Resolution 1701 ended a 34-day war between Israel and Hizbollah in mid-August.

The statement, read by coalition leader Saad al-Hariri, son of the slain former PM, urged the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to adopt a UN-drafted statute for a special court to try the killers of the former Prime Minister.

Mr Siniora has called for an extraordinary session today to discuss the draft.

Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud said any government meeting after the Shi'ites quit the Cabinet would be unconstitutional.

The United States has already accused Iran, Syria and Hizbollah of plotting to topple the Lebanese government, which the US administration has held up as an example of emerging democracy in the Middle East.

Mr Kassem denied that Hizbollah was trying to put hurdles in the way of establishing the Hariri court, saying the group had already agreed to it but wanted to discuss the details.

"The issue of the court has nothing to do (with the failure of the talks).

It was brought up so that the parliamentary majority would not bear the responsibility for the failure of the talks," Mr Kassem said.

Many Lebanese blame Syria for Mr Hariri's killing. Damascus denies involvement.

The 2005 killing of Mr Hariri led to mass protests against Syria.

Under international pressure, Syria ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April last year and anti-Syrian politicians swept to victory in ensuing elections.

A UN commission investigating the murder has implicated senior Lebanese and Syrian security officials.