Lebanese Government Collapses as Hezbollah Pulls Out of Coalition

Ministers allied with the militant political party have resigned over a UN investigation into the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Lebanon is facing a major political crisis after Hezbollah withdrew from the ruling coalition led by Saad Hariri. Hezbollah had urged him to denounce a UN tribunal that is widely expected to blame Hezbollah agents for the 2008 assassination of his father Rafik, but the younger Hariri refused. The collapse of the government threatens to reignite tensions between Syria-backed Hezbollah and other factions that want to put an end to decades of Syrian dominance in Lebanon. Sunnis, Shias, and Christians each comprise a third of the country’s population of 4 million, and beginning in 1975 the Lebanese fought a civil war that lasted 15 years and killed at least 130,000 people.