BEIRUT (AFP) — Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah claimed on Friday that Israel was behind the assassination of Lebanese politicians and urged feuding parties to agree on who should become president in order to end the country's crisis.
"Israel is the one who is carrying out the killings in Lebanon. It wants to stir discord and internal fighting in Lebanon," he said at a rally to commemorate Jerusalem Day in Beirut's southern suburbs.
The Western-backed ruling majority in Lebanon has blamed Syria for attacks against anti-Damascus Lebanese figures since October 2004. Syria, the main backer of the Hezbollah-led Lebanese opposition, denies the accusations.
Anti-Syrian MP Antoine Ghanem was assassinated in Beirut last month, the eighth Damascus critic to be murdered in Lebanon since the February 2005 killing of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.
Syria has denied involvement in all those crimes.
"Israel is the one that does not want a consensus president and a government of national unity in Lebanon. Israel, backed by America, wants a president who would disarm the resistance," he said.
Nasrallah has rejected demands by UN resolutions to disarm his group, which has vowed to pursue a guerrilla campaign to force Israel out of the occupied Shebaa Farms territory.
Hezbollah guerrillas, backed by Syria and Iran, led the campaign that force Israel to pull its troops out of a large swathe of territory in southern Lebanon in 2000, after 22 years of occupation.
After last year's fierce war with Israel, the Hezbollah-led opposition escalated its actions against the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora with the resignation of its cabinet members and an ongoing street protest.
The two sides have been deadlocked over the choice of a replace for pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud, whose mandate expires next month.
Last month, parliament failed to reach a quorum to elect a president, and adjourned until October 23. The head of state is elected by parliament, not by universal sufferage.
"Either we agree on a consensus president or we open the door for the Lebanese people to choose the president directly," Nasrallah said.
"If we cannot agree on a consensus president ... the best way is for parliament to meet and amend the constitution for a single time to allow the Lebanese people to vote directly, without foreign interference."
Fears are running high that the deadlock over the presidency could lead to two rival governments, a grim reminder of the final years of the 1975-1990 civil war when two competing administrations battled for control.
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