Siniora calls for forming new cabinet; urges Hezbollah to withdraw from Syria

 
Head of the Future Bloc former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said on Tuesday that Lebanese factions should agree on the formation of a cabinet that does not include political candidates but instead tackles the affairs of the state and addresses the concerns of the Lebanese people.            

Following the bloc’s weekly meeting, Siniora called on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from Syria, urging the military institution to deploy Lebanese Armed Forces at the Lebanese-Syrian border in order to the prevent the entry of any Syrian fighters into Lebanon.                 

On another note, Siniora welcomed the agreement reached between Western powers and Iran regarding Tehran’s nuclear program.                             

He also praised President Michel Sleiman’s stance on the 70th occasion of Lebanon’s Independence, calling on all Lebanese factions to respect the constitution and adhere to the Baabda declaration.                   

Siniora also denounced the suicide attack that targeted the Iranian Embassy in South Beirut’s Bir Hassan region, calling on all Lebanese parties to reject violence in all its forms and adopt a calm political rhetoric. 

A double suicide attack targeted on Tuesday, November 19 the Iranian embassy in south Beirut’s Bir Hassan region, killing at least 23 people, wounding 146 and damaging buildings in the embassy compound.               

Live footage from local news channels showed charred bodies on the ground as flames rose from the remains of several vehicles. Aid workers and residents carried away some of the victims on blankets.

Caretaker Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil stated that the Cultural Attache of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sheikh Ibrahim Ansari was killed in the blasts. Ansari took his post in Lebanon a month ago and was overseeing all regional cultural activities.

The Abdullah Azzam brigades, a Lebanon-based al-Qaeda affiliate, said it was behind a double suicide attack on the Iranian embassy.