Ministers from Lebanon’s anti-Syrian parliamentary majority walked out of a Cabinet meeting yesterday in protest at the presence of pro-Damascus President Emile Lahoud, in the latest political row paralyzing the country. The ministers headed out of the session after a verbal clash between anti-Syrian Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh and Lahoud, whom the parliamentary majority seeks to remove from office, an AFP correspondent said. The walkout came shortly after majority leader Saad Hariri said that talks aimed at breaking a long-running political deadlock were close to resolving one of the most contentious issues — the fate of Lahoud. “Solutions have actually been found to certain issues and there will soon be a solution to the issue of the Lebanese presidency,” Hariri told reporters in Cairo after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.The apparent meltdown also followed a public dispute between Lahoud and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora at Wednesday’s Arab summit in Khartoum over a draft resolution pledging to support Lebanese armed groups. “We represent the majority and Siniora was our representative at the summit. His position was the legitimate one, not yours,” Hamadeh told Lahoud at the start of the cabinet session.
Interim Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat told reporters that Lahoud also attacked him verbally during the session. A visibly angry Lahoud told reporters after the session ended abruptly: “This fictitious majority wants the head of the resistance (Hezbollah)... it wants all of Lebanon, but they won’t go anywhere with us.”