ANKARA: Saudia Arabia and Turkey urged Hezbollah to rejoin Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government Wednesday, warning that the volatile country could slide back into violence. Hezbollah and its political allies quit the government earlier in the day over a tribunal set up to try the killers of the prime minister's slain father, statesman Rafiq Hariri. “The resignations will be dangerous as they will cause clashes once again,” Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, told a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara. “Thus, we hope these resignations will not take place. They have the potential to cause everything built so far to collapse,” Prince Saud said, warning of repercussions around the region. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu hoped Hezbollah would rethink the resignations. Lebanon's year-old unity government collapsed Wednesday after Hezbollah ministers and their allies resigned. Prime Minister Saad Hariri cut short a visit to Washington after meeting with US President Barack Obama. He was heading to Paris where he will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy Thursday, his office in Beirut said. He planned to hold consultations on his government's collapse while in France, then would return to Beirut, according to an official in Hariri's delegation. Hariri made no public comment after meeting Obama, but the official said Obama offered US support. The tribunal is widely expected to name members of Hezbollah in upcoming indictments, which many fear could reignite sectarian tensions that have plagued the tiny country for decades. “This cabinet has become a burden on the Lebanese, unable to do its work,” Energy Minister Jibran Bassil said at a news conference announcing the resignations, flanked by the other ministers who are stepping down. “We are giving a chance for another government to take over.”
