Hezbollah gains power in Lebanon

BEIRUT – Hezbollah and its allies rose to a position of unprecedented dominance in Lebanon’s government Monday, giving its patrons Syria and Iran greater sway in the Middle East.

Lebanon Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced a new Cabinet dominated by the militant group and its allies after the country has operated for five months without a functioning government. The move caps Hezbollah’s steady rise over decades from resistance group against Israel to Lebanon’s most powerful military and political force.

Opponents of Hezbollah – which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization – say having it in control of Lebanon’s government could lead to international isolation. The group’s biggest supporters are Iran and Syria, which dominated Lebanon for 29 years.

The new government opens the door for renewed Syrian influence in Lebanon at a time the Syrian leadership is struggling at home. It’s a remarkable turnaround from 2005, when fallout from the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri led to massive anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon. The protests, dubbed the “Cedar Revolution,” drove tens of thousands of Syrian troops out of Lebanon.

The ascendancy of Hezbollah is a setback for the U.S., which has provided Lebanon with $720 million in military aid since 2006 and has tried in vain to move the country firmly into a Western sphere and end Iranian and Syrian influence. It also underscores Iran’s growing influence in the region at a time when Washington’s is falling.

Fadia Kiwan, a political science professor at Beirut’s St. Joseph University, said Hezbollah’s dominance in the new government could backfire on the group, which was formed in 1982 with Iranian support to fight Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.

“Such a government puts a great political responsibility on Hezbollah’s shoulders,” Kiwan told the Associated Press. “A moderate, national unity government would have offered more protection for the group.”

Hezbollah forced the collapse of Lebanon’s previous, pro-Western government in January over fears it would be indicted by a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the killing of Hariri, a billionaire businessman and political leader who had been trying to limit Syria’s domination of Lebanon in the months before his death.

Syria denied any involvement in his killing and called the tribunal a conspiracy by the U.S. and Israel.

Hariri’s son, Saad, who was prime minister in January, refused to denounce the tribunal or cut off Lebanon’s 49 percent share of the funding for it.

Hezbollah and its allies then walked out of the government, forcing its collapse, and secured enough support in parliament to name Mikati as the new prime minister. But Mikati has struggled to form a Cabinet, insisting he won’t do the bidding of any one side.

On Monday, Mikati announced a Cabinet that gives Hezbollah and its allies 16 of the 30 seats. In the previous government, they had 10 seats.

Mikati was quick to reiterate that his government will respect Lebanon’s international commitments – a reference to the tribunal investigating Hariri’s killing, suggesting that he won’t cut its funding. Many in Lebanon fear Hezbollah will react violently if its members are indicted, as is widely expected.