Hezbollah's rise raises new concerns over regional stability

Hezbollah's yellow flag now flies more prominently in Lebanon

Lebanon's new government - with its Hezbollah alliance majority - is already causing concern with regional and international powers waiting to see in which direction the militant group may lead the country.

 

Hezbollah's steady rise to the pinnacle of Lebanon's political power structure was confirmed this week when new Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced a new government which is dominated by the Iranian- and Syrian-backed militant group.

The billionaire Sunni businessman will lead the 30-member cabinet in which Hezbollah and its allies hold the majority after five months of stalemate in Beirut. The 'March 8' alliance holds 18 seats while the other 12 portfolios are divided between the parties of Mikati, President Michel Suleiman and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.

The new government finally fills the power vacuum created by the collapse of former premier Saad Hariri's cabinet in January when Hezbollah walked out on the fragile coalition over Hariri's refusal to disavow the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's (STL) investigation into his father's assassination.

The Netherlands-based STL is expected to indict members of Hezbollah over the 2005 killing, a move which angered the militant group.

Hezbollah's majority in the new government is the greatest evidence yet of its expanding influence in Lebanon which began with its first foray into politics in 2005 and boosts its growing reputation as the most powerful militant group in the region

Read the rest on: Deutsche Welle