News Brief

Despite doing far worse than expected in the parliamentary elections in Lebanon, Hizbullah and its coalition said it would not join a new Lebanese government unless it had veto power over all decisions to be made by the government. Speaking in an interview, Christian leader Suleiman Franjieh, a member of the March 8 pro-Syria/Iran coalition said Saturday that the coalition "will not hold things up. But we will refuse to join the government."

Currently, Hizbullah has veto power over decisions made by the Lebanese cabinet, and that situation will continue, Franjieh said. He added that the coalition would not agree to allowing descendants of Arab refugees who fled Israel in 1948 to obtain Lebanese citizenship