Lebanese Prime Minister to Meet Putin in Moscow

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora is to travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, AFP reports.

The prime minister has been holed up in his offices since the start of the month amid mass opposition protests mounted by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its Christian allies who want to bring down the government.

The visit was announced Wednesday a day after the UN Security Council reiterated its full backing for the “legitimate and democratically elected” Lebanese government and condemned all attempts to destabilize the country.

Siniora’s anti-Syrian majority government accuses Tehran and Damascus of supporting Hezbollah in a bid to stage a “coup d’etat” against the Western-backed government.

The opposition accuses the rump cabinet left by the departure of six pro-Syrian ministers last month of riding roughshod over the power-sharing arrangements in force since the 1975-90 civil war and has threatened to escalate its protests.

Popularity: 1% [?]