Hezbollah 'to quit' Lebanon cabinet over Hariri probe

Hezbollah and its allies have threatened to quit the Lebanese cabinet unless their demands over a UN tribunal probing the murder of ex-premier Rafik Hariri are met, the BBC New reported.

Ministers allied to Hezbollah told local media that Prime Minister Saad Hariri - the son of the slain former premier - had rejected the group's demands on Tuesday for an urgent cabinet session following the failure of the Saudi-Syrian diplomatic push.

"If the cabinet fails to meet, it means there is no government and as such 11 ministers will tender their resignations this afternoon," Health Minister Mohamad Jawad Khalifeh, whose Amal party is allied with Hezbollah, told AFP news agency on Wednesday.

Hezbollah, a powerful Shia political and militant movement, has dismissed the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) as a "US-Israeli plot".

It has angrily rejected any suggestion of involvement in the February 2005 Hariri assassination, and wants the government to suspend its share of funding for the tribunal and withdraw all co-operation.

The latest turmoil came as Saad Hariri - the Western-backed son of the slain ex-premier - was set to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington to discuss the crisis.

Hariri, whose fragile coalition government has been sharing power with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, has so far resisted calls to reject the tribunal, saying justice must be served.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has warned of dire consequences if the court goes ahead and indicts some of his followers.
There are fears of renewed clashes between the country's Shia and Sunni communities.

In 2008, sectarian clashes killed 81 people and nearly plunged Lebanon into another civil war.