Saudis advised against traveling to Lebanon BEIRUT/RIYADH: The billionaire businessman chosen by Hezbollah and its allies as Lebanon's prime minister has called for a unity government, a sign that the Iranian-backed militant group does not want to push its growing power too far and risk isolation abroad and an escalation of sectarian tensions at home. In Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned that formation of a government dominated by Hezbollah would mean changes in US relations with Lebanon. Seeking to calm sectarian tensions, Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati called for a unity government. “My hand is extended to all Lebanese, Muslims and Christians, in order to build and not to destroy,” said Mikati, whose moderate credentials and Harvard education make it difficult for opponents to cast him off as a pro-Hezbollah figure with a militant agenda. In an interview Tuesday night on local television, Mikati said he is committed to democracy and dialogue. “I am not in a confrontation with the West,” he told the private LBC station. “We are looking to build good relations with the West.” He also rejected the notion that he is a Hezbollah candidate or that the government will be an Iranian proxy. “Why these accusations and all this furor ahead of time? Why the prejudgments?” he said. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah echoed those sentiments. Thousands of Mikati's fellow Sunnis poured into the streets across the country, burning tires, throwing rocks and accusing Hezbollah of a coup d'etat. In the impoverished northern city of Tripoli, protesters torched a van belonging to Al-Jazeera, apparently accusing the Arab satellite channel of bias in favor of Hezbollah. There were no reports of serious injuries in Tuesday's protests, which calmed by early evening. Some observers warned that the clashes could re-ignite the country's bloody history of sectarian strife. Because Mikati is a Sunni, protesters accused him of being a traitor to his people and betraying Saad Hariri, whose government fell after Hezbollah and its allies withdrew two weeks ago. Lebanon's political crisis has its origins in the assassination of Hariri's father, former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, who was killed in a massive truck bombing on Feb. 14, 2005 along with 22 others. A UN-backed tribunal is widely expected to accuse Hezbollah in the crime in a sealed indictment that was issued Jan. 17. Hezbollah has denied any link to the killing and accused the Netherlands-based tribunal of trying to frame its members at the behest of Israel and the United States. Hezbollah and its allies can now either form their own government, leaving Hariri and his allies to become the opposition, or it can try to persuade Hariri to join a national unity government. But Hariri has insisted he will not join a government led by a Hezbollah pick. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has advised its citizens not to travel to Lebanon after violence following the nomination of the Hezbollah-backed premier, the Kingdom said Wednesday. The Kingdom advised its nationals not to travel to Lebanon until the situation had stabilized, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official news agency SPA.
