Report: Suleiman to Assess Next Phase Following Hasan's Assassination

President Michel Suleiman is seeking to find a solution and counteract the repercussions of the assassination of Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan, chief of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau, the al-Joumhouria daily reported Monday.

Sources close to the presidential palace in Baabda told the daily that Suleiman seeks to explore the next phase as Prime Minister Najib Miqati intends to submit his resignation, according to reports, and has decided not to go to his office at the Grand Serail.

Miqati said he offered his resignation, but Suleiman asked him to stay for “a period of time” until the next steps are set in a bid not to increase divisions any further in the nation, the sources said.

They added that Miqati is not holding on to his position as PM, but fears for the next phase in Lebanon and the repercussions that could emerge after such a decision.

Although it is not the jurisdiction of the president to ask the premier to resign, Miqati will not stand in the way of any national agreement, said the sources.

Hasan was killed in a massive car bomb on Friday along with two other people in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district.

Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has held on to his stance, refusing the resignation of the cabinet unless an agreement on the steps to be taken in the next phase is reached, the sources stated.

Jumblat explained that it is impossible to form another cabinet in light of the current political alliances and “the domination of arms”.

He said that the claims of the March 14 alliance to oust the cabinet has not yet been followed up with any alternative, which makes the country face an unknown future.

Intensive contacts were held overnight Friday-Saturday between Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Jumblat and his ministers, during which Jumblat rejected Miqati's suggestion that he would submit his resignation.

Jumblat rejected the resignation out of fear of a governmental vacuum and the inability of any caretaker cabinet to control security should the situation deteriorate, reports said.

PSP leader, who blamed the Syrian regime for the assassination of Hasan, told As Safir: “I blamed the Syrian regime and they (March 14) targeted the cabinet. This is unacceptable and could drag the country to strife.”

March 14 youth held an open sit-in at Martyrs’ Square Saturday to vent their outrage over the assassination of Hasan and to call on the government to resign.

The gathering demanded that Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s cabinet resign and Syria’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali be expelled.