Word: siniora
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...waving the militant Shi'ite Muslim group's yellow flag. The demonstration had a festive air, but it may have signaled the start of [an error occurred while processing this directive] something ominous: massive street protests threatened by Hizballah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah to bring down Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's Western-backed government. The government is already in crisis. Six pro-Syrian ministers quit last week after Siniora refused Hizballah's demand for a new government alloting the group and its allies one-third of the Cabinet posts, enough to give them effective veto power. Nasrallah wants...
...prime minister, Fouad Siniora - perhaps wondering why he should reward Hizballah for single-handedly starting the destructive war by kidnapping three Israeli soldiers - balked at a move that would have given Hizballah effective veto power. Instead he offered three seats, which Hizballah and Amal rejected, promising street demonstrations in return...
...Since Siniora still has a majority, he could go on trying to run the country without participation from the Shi'a parties. The constitution specifies that the country's president must be Christian, its prime minister must be Sunni Muslim, and that the speaker of parliament must be Shi'a Muslim. It doesn't, however, say what the balance of the cabinet has to be. But it would be practically impossible for the government to have legitimacy and effectiveness without any Shi'a, who are, after all, the country's largest religious group...
...proxy battle between the United States (which supplies money and weapons to Israel) and Iran and Syria (which supply money and weapons to Hizballah), and the country is very much divided along those same lines. Hizballah's desire for greater say in the government reflects its concern that Siniora and his allies will cooperate with the U.S. and the United Nations to disarm Hizballah, which was one component of the ceasefire that ended the war this summer; Hizballah is the only political party that kept its weapons after the end of the Civil...
...What we are witnessing now is the politics of brinksmanship," said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut. "Who will back off first? There is a crisis for Siniora and the majority. They cannot afford to give Hizballah and their allies a veto in the cabinet. Hizballah meanwhile is fighting for their necks. They are being chased by Security Council resolutions calling for their disarmament. They brought the political system to a standstill. Hizballah is suffering as well...