Lebanese PM quits
2005-02-28 21:59
Beirut - Lebanon's pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karameh resigned on Monday in the face of mass protests, bringing to a head a political crisis sparked by the murder two weeks ago of his predecessor Rafiq Hariri.
"I announce the resignation of the government over which I had the honour of presiding so that it does not pose an obstacle" to the probe into the killing, an emotional Karameh told parliament in a decision that plunges the country into new political turmoil.
The announcement was greeted with loud applause in the national assembly, where the opposition had been seeking a vote of no confidence in Karameh's four-month-old government.
Tens of thousands of jubilant demonstrators broke into singing the national anthem.
They had defied a government ban on demonstrations and massed in the heart of Beirut as parliament held the debate on Hariri's murder in a huge February 14 bomb blast.
The resignation came exactly two weeks after the assassination which triggered a wave of public opposition against the Lebanese government and its backers in Damascus, who are widely blamed for the murder.
Syria insisted the resignation was an "internal matter" for Lebanon, but added that it hoped to see the formation of a new government that would extricate the country from the "current extremely delicate circumstances".
Washington said it was watching developments "with great interest".
- AFP