Lebanon Forms Government Under Hizbullah-backed Diab

Lebanon formed a new government on Tuesday under Prime Minister Hassan Diab, an engineer and former education minister. Diab, a Sunni Muslim, is backed by the Shi’ite group Hizbullah and its allies – a fact that will make it difficult for the West and Sunni Arab states to support Lebanon’s government. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement, as well as the Christian Lebanese Forces party and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party, have stayed out of the new government. The first order of business will be to deal with the country’s collapsing economy, which has sparked widespread protests. The new finance minister, Ghazi Wazni, an economist and former adviser to parliament’s finance and budget committee, said the country would need foreign aid to dig itself out of its financial and banking crisis. The new cabinet includes 20 specialist ministers – what Diab called a technocratic “rescue team.” Former Ambassador to the Arab League Nassif Hitti will serve as the new foreign minister. Even as the new government was announced, stone-throwing protesters took to the streets near parliament and were confronted by police firing water canons. Hundreds have been injured in violent demonstrations over the past week.