Hariri bloc not to join new Lebanon govt.

The Western-backed coalition of Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri says it will not join the new national government.

Hariri’s al-Mustaqbal (Future) Movement said on Thursday that it would not be part of the new government unless Prime Minister designate Najib Mikati, backed by the Hezbollah resistance movement, clarifies his position on US-sponsored Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Reuters reported.

Mikati was elected as new Lebanese prime minister in a Tuesday vote on the second day of parliamentary consultations held in President Michel Sleiman’s residence near Beirut. He collected 68 votes against Hariri’s 60.

Lebanon has been in a political standoff since Saad Hariri’s government collapsed earlier this month when 11 opposition-affiliated ministers resigned in a dispute over the US-backed STL — which is charged with probing the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafiq Hariri.

Rafiq Hariri and over 20 other people were killed on February 14, 2005, when explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kilograms of TNT targeted his convoy in downtown Beirut.

The Washington-sponsored STL was set up nearly two years later to look into the deadly incident.

Reports say that the court will likely issue an indictment against some Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has vehemently rebuffed the allegations, describing the move as part of a dangerous enemy scheme aimed at targeting the resistance movement.