Beirut shrugs off foreign meddling claims

There was no foreign interference in the forming of a new Lebanese Cabinet led by a coalition that includes Syrian allies, a Lebanese minister said. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced Monday he formed a new Cabinet. The announcement ended a political deadlock that began in January when Hezbollah helped bring about the collapse of a government led by Saad Hariri, son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The March 8 coalition, a slate that includes members of Hezbollah, secured the majority in the new Cabinet and Syrian President Bashar Assad was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Beirut. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said the Mikati government was "100 percent Lebanese," the Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon reports. Some U.S. and Lebanese lawmakers expressed alarm over the new government, saying Syrian influence and the role of Hezbollah was cause for concern. Hezbollah secured two Cabinet seats in the Mikati government, the same number it had during the previous administration. Information Minister Walid Daouk after meeting with Suleiman expressed similar sentiments regarding the country's independence. "The Cabinet was born 100 percent Lebanese without any foreign interference and its agenda is 100 percent Lebanese," he was quoted as saying.