SHOTLIST

April 4, 2007

1. Street traffic in Beirut

2. Wide of Newspaper stand

3. Tilt down of newspapers

4. Newspaper headline reading: (in Arabic) "70 lawmakers place procedure to form tribunal in the hands of the United Nations: avoiding Chapter 7 is still possible"

April 3, 2007

5. Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and son of the slain leader, Rafik Hariri, delivering the memorandum to Geir Pederson, the UN representative in Lebanon ++MUTE++

6. Lebanese members of parliament at meeting ++MUTE++

7. Wide of meeting ++MUTE++

April 4, 2007

8. Exterior of Prime Minister's office building

9. Close-up of Lebanese flag

10. Youth and Sport Minister Ahmad Fatfat

11. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ahmad Fatfat, Minister of Youth and Sports:

"We proceeded to the United Nations after the failure of all internal constitutional attempts due to obstacles placed along the way by certain elements (in government). That is why we look to the United Nations to implement the resolutions."

April 3, 2007

12. Exterior of Parliament building

13. Members of parliament gathered in parliament hall

14. Camera operators

15. Wide of members of parliament

April 4, 2007

16. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Nawar Al-Sahili, Hezbollah Member of Parliament:

" This is dangerous move for all of Lebanon and it belittles the importance of the International tribunal. Instead of the tribunal being one that serves all the Lebanese people, one they all want and support, it is now a tribunal negotiated and imposed by a few Members of Parliament. Which makes it a political tribunal."

17. Image of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader, on calendar cover

STORYLINE:

Parliament's anti-Syrian majority has called on the UN to impose an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri after the government failed to win opposition support for its creation drawing condemnation from the Hezbollah-led opposition.

The anti-Syrian coalition's call late on Tuesday on the world body to take "alternative measures" to approve the tribunal amounted to an invitation to the UN Security Council to independently establish it.

Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and son of the slain leader, presented a memorandum to Geir Pederson, the UN representative in Lebanon, during a meeting late on Tuesday, demanding UN action to establish the tribunal in accordance with a draft agreement signed between the Lebanese government and the United Nations last year.

The memorandum, addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, calls on the UN chief "to take all alternative measures under the UN Charter which ensure the establishment of the international tribunal which has been approved by the Security Council in order to achieve justice, strengthen national peace and protect world justice and peace," according to a statement issued by Hariri's office.

The memorandum accused pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key opposition figure, of obstructing efforts to set up the tribunal, claiming Lahoud repeatedly refused to sign the tribunal draft agreement because he considered the government unconstitutional after the resignation of six ministers.

Ahmad Fatfat, the Lebanese Minister of Youth and Sports, said the decision to go through the United Nations was borne out of frustration.

" We proceeded to the United Nations after the failure of all internal constitutional attempts due to obstacles placed along the way by certain elements (in government). That is why we look to the United Nations to implement the resolutions," said Fatfat.

The move prompted a warning from Hezbollah that such international intervention threatens Lebanon's security and stability.

On Tuesday, Amal leader and Hezbollah ally, Speaker Nabih Berri locked out pro-government lawmakers from the chamber, refusing to call the legislature into session.

It was the third attempt in as many weeks by lawmakers from the anti-Syrian majority to try and force Berri to call a session.

But Hezbollah and its Pro-Syrian allies in parliament have declined, seeking instead to negotiate limits to the tribunal's mandate.

Nawar Al-Sahili, Hezbollah Member of Parliament, called the decision to go through the UN a

" dangerous move for all of Lebanon."

"Instead of the tribunal being one that serves all the Lebanese people, one they all want and support, it is now a tribunal negotiated and imposed by a few Members of Parliament. Which makes it a political tribunal," said Al-Sahili.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Haj Hassan said in a telephone interview with LBC television, warned that the establishment of a tribunal by the UN with out the consent of the Lebanese parliament is considered international foreign intervention in the internal affairs which threatens the security and stability of Lebanon.

SHOTLIST:

1. Exterior of Lebanese parliament building

2. Lebanese security forces

3. Arrival of Prime Minister, Fuad Saniora

4. Arrival of Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt

5. Pan of round table talks

6. Medium shot of speaker of the house, Nabih Berri

7. Medium of Saad Hariri and General Michel Aoun

8. Medium of Hezbollah MP, Mohammad Raad

9. Wide of round table talks

10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Samir Geagea, Leader of Christian group Lebanese Forces:

"We have not achieved any progress and speaker of the house, Berri, is travelling. I do not know who is trying to spread fear and panic for what is going to happen on Monday. Nothing is going to happen and we have not reached any agreement."

11. Michel Aoun heading to the podium

12. SOUNDBITE(Arabic), Michel Aoun, Head of Free National movement:

"The session was adjourned without assigning a new date for another round of talks."

13. Aoun leaving

STORYLINE:

Rival Lebanese politicians failed to reach agreement when they returned to the negotiating table on Saturday, a day after the government received a draft document setting up an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Politicians emerged from the meeting, with some saying the talks failed to achieve a breakthrough.

In a sign of worsening tensions, Christian leader Michel Aoun said the talks had failed to produce an agreement and that no date for another round of talks was set.

Christian politician Samir Geagea acknowledged the talks had failed to reach any agreement but suggested the talks would resume at a later stage.

He said the meeting was stopped partly because House Speaker Nabih Berri was scheduled to leave to travel to Iran.

"We have not achieved any progress and Speaker of the House, Berri is travelling. I do not know who is trying to spread fear and panic for what is going to happen on Monday. Nothing is going to happen and we have not reached any agreement."

The handover of the draft document setting up an international tribunal to the Lebanese government on Friday figured high on the agenda of Saturday's meeting, the fourth this week aimed at solving differences between Lebanon's bickering politicians.

The stakes of the talks are high: the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrilla group threatened protests that could bring down the government if its share in Cabinet portfolios is not increased.

Lebanese media reports have suggested the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority led by the late Hariri's son, Saad, would agree to give Hezbollah and its allies a larger share of the Cabinet and effective veto power over key decisions if the group and allied pro-Syrian factions endorse the draft for the tribunal.

But Hariri's allies denied that such a deal was on the table.

The anti-Syrian majority has accepted the principle of forming a national unity government but refuses to give Hezbollah and its allies the one-third of Cabinet posts that is effectively equivalent to veto power because Cabinet decisions require approval by two-thirds of the ministers.

They also want to discuss the fate of President Emile Lahoud, a staunch pro-Syrian who has rejected pro-government demands to step down.

SHOTLIST:

1. Pan on downtown Beirut with Al Amine mosque in the background

2. Crowd gathering at the Martyrs' square

3. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri poster with electronic sign reading "365"

4. Arrival of MP Bahia Hariri, sister of Rafik Hariri, at his grave

5. Bahia Hariri praying

6. Close-up of big poster for Rafik Hariri

7. Bahia Hariri leaving the anniversary ceremony marking Hariri's assassination

8. Thousands gathered in crowded square

9. Various of crowd waving Lebanese flags and anti-Syrian banners

10. Mid shot of banner: "Kick out Bashar's agent from Baabda" (referring Syrian President Bashar Assad and to Lebanese president Emile Lahoud)

11. Wide shot of Al Amine mosque

12. Mid shot of crowd

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ghazi Aridi, Information minister:

"It will be the international tribunal and the truth will be very clear for all the Lebanese people and the international community."

14. Mid shot of soldiers

15. Various of crowd

STORYLINE:

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese waving flags, some carrying anti-Syrian banners, massed in Martyr's square in Beirut on Tuesday to commemorate the first anniversary of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

The gathering answered a call by groups opposed to Syrian involvement in lebanon aiming to show their popular strength amid deep political divisions.

Syria's troops left Lebanon in April under international pressure after nearly 30 years, and a UN probe into Hariri's murder has already implicated top Syrian and allied Lebanese security officials. Damasmcus refutes any involvement.

Rafik Hariri's sister Bahia Hariri prayed at his graveside next to the square.

Outside some demonstrators carried signs calling for "The Truth" and shouted the name of Hariri's son and political heir, Saad Hariri, whilst others carried placards critical of Syria and its president, Bashar Assad.

Thousands of troops and policemen, backed by armoured vehicles, sealed off Beirut's downtown area to provide security and guarded approaches to the city.

The government gave schools the day off and businesses closed.

The demonstration was expected to climax shortly after midday - the time when a huge truck bomb exploded on a downtown seaside street as his motorcade drove by a year ago, killing him and 20 others.

The main pro-Syrian Shiite Muslim groups, Hezbollah and Amal, were not taking part in the demonstration, which was expected to be largely dominated by Sunni Muslims from Hariri's sect and by Christian and Druse allies.

Amal is holding its own commemoration later Tuesday in southern Lebanon. Amal and Hezbollah, who are represented in the Cabinet, have been locked in a power struggle with the government's majority led by the Saad Hariri bloc.

The groups leading Tuesday's rallies in Beirut are looking for a repetition of a March 14 protest in which about one (m) million flag-waving Lebanese converged on Martyrs' Square to demand the Syrian army leave Lebanon.

The groups have continued to accuse Syria of interfering in Lebanese affairs and carrying out a campaign of bombings and assassinations in the last year that has killed other 11 people, including three prominent anti-Syrians.

Damascus has also denied involvement in these attacks.

Before the troop pullout, Syria had dominated Lebanon with its army and security services for nearly three decades, first entering in 1976 to quell a fratricidal civil war that did not end until 1990.

SHOTLIST

1. Wide of area were bomb blast happened

2. Mid of men looking at the remains of a car

3. Cordon next to remains of a vehicle

4. People inspecting damage

5. Dented parked cars along the road

6. Mangled vehicles

7. Pan of damage

8.Damaged building

9. People looking at damage

10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Elie Roukoz, Beirut Resident:

" As you see the whole buildings are damaged, we felt that the ground is shaking up and down."

11. Cars along street in Beirut

12. Various of man reading paper

13. Pan of papers on the news stand

14. Mid of front page reading (ENGLISH) " MP Antoine Ghamen assassinated"

15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Samer Mrad, Beirut Resident

" We want to see and to know the hands behind such acts and who has the interest. This is only affecting the poor and miserable people."

16. Lebanese security forces convoy along street

17. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, Lebanese lawmaker heading the main anti-Syrian alliance in Parliament:

"The presidency does not belong to Saad Hariri, or to Hassan Nasrallah, or to Nabih Berri, or to Michel Aoun, or to any other party. The presidency belongs to the people of Lebanon."

18. Cutaway

19. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, Lebanese lawmaker heading the main anti-Syrian alliance in Parliament:

"The International Tribunal, which will try those cowardly criminal killers, will also try those who sabotage the presidential elections."

20. Various of locked up shops

STORYLINE

Lebanese leaders pledged on Thursday to press ahead with a divisive election for president, to be held in Parliament in coming days, despite the car bombing assassination of an anti-Syrian lawmaker.

Wednesday's bomb killed Antoine Ghanem, an anti-Syria lawmaker, and six others in a Christian neighbourhood of Beirut and threatened to derail efforts to bring the country's rival parties together to agree on a head of state ahead of time, before voting is set to begin next week.

Investigators were at the sight examining the remains of the blast.

At least 67 were wounded in the explosion, which severely damaged buildings and set cars ablaze during rush hour on a busy street in the Sin el-Fil neighbourhood.

Ghanem, 64, a member of the right-wing Christian Phalange party, had returned from refuge abroad only two days earlier. He was the eighth anti-Syria figure and fourth governing coalition lawmaker to be assassinated in less than three years.

On Thursday Lebanese newspapers were focused entirely on the assassination.

Samer Mrad a Beirut resident said he wants to know who is behind the attack.

" We want to see and to know that hands behind such acts and who has the interest. This is only affecting the poor and miserable people," he said.

Coalition members blamed Syria for the death, but Damascus denied involvement, as it has for the previous seven assassinations, including the 2005 bombing death of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora asked the United Nations secretary-general in a letter to add the Ghanem assassination to an international probe into Hariri's slaying and other political crimes in Lebanon.

On Wednesday Hariri's son, who now heads the main anti-Syrian alliance in the Lebanese parliament, called the perpetrators of the attack "cowardly criminal killers".

"The presidency does not belong to Saad Hariri, or to Hassan Nasrallah, or to Nabih Berri, or to Michel Aoun, or to any other party. The presidency belongs to the people of Lebanon," Saad Hariri said.

Many people fear the divisions over the presidency could lead to creation of two rival governments, a grim threat to repeat the last two years of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war when army units loyal to competing administrations battled it out.

President Emile Lahoud, an ally of Syria, is due to step down from the presidency by November 23 and government supporters see the vote as the opportunity to put one of their own in the post.

But Hezbollah and its allies have vowed to block any candidate they do not approve and they can do so by boycotting the ballots, preventing the needed two-thirds quorum of 85 votes.

If no candidate is agreed on by the time Lahoud steps down, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and his cabinet would automatically take on executive powers.

If that happens, opposition supporters have said Lahoud might appoint a second government, a step many fear would break up the country.

Schools, universities and many businesses in Christian areas of Beirut, plus in the Mount Lebanon region north of the capital, closed on Thursday in a day of mourning and to observe a strike called by the Phalange Party.

A funeral was to be held Friday.

SHOTLIST

1. Tilt-up of rubble to people setting up security cordon

2. Pan from wreckage of one car to wreckage of another car

3. Soldiers shouting orders

4. Paramedic running to help, pan to vehicle being hosed

5. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, Lebanese lawmaker heading the main anti-Syrian alliance in Parliament:

"The presidency does not belong to Saad Hariri, or to Hassan Nasrallah, or to Nabih Berri, or to Michel Aoun, or to any other party. The presidency belongs to the people of Lebanon."

6. Cutaway

7. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, Lebanese lawmaker heading the main anti-Syrian alliance in Parliament:

"The International Tribunal, which will try those cowardly criminal killers, will also try those who sabotage the presidential elections."

8. Wide view from above blast site

STORYLINE

A powerful bomb killed an anti-Syria lawmaker and six others in a Christian neighbourhood of Beirut on Wednesday, threatening to derail an effort by an already deeply divided parliament to elect Lebanon's next president in voting to begin next week.

Antoine Ghanem, a 64-year-old member of the Christian Phalange party who had returned from refuge abroad only two days earlier, was the eighth

anti-Syria figure and fourth lawmaker from the governing coalition to be assassinated in less than three years.

Coalition members blamed Syria, but Damascus denied involvement, as it has for the previous seven assassinations, including the 2005 bombing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a killing that ignited huge protests that forced Syria to withdraw its troops after a three-decade occupation.

Hariri's son, who now heads the main anti-Syrian alliance in the Lebanese parliament, called the perpetrators of Wednesday's attack "cowardly criminal killers".

"The presidency does not belong to Saad Hariri, or to Hassan Nasrallah, or to Nabih Berri, or to Michel Aoun, or to any other party. The presidency belongs to the people of Lebanon," Saad Hariri said.

Many people fear the divisions over the presidency could lead to creation of two rival governments, a grim threat to repeat the last two years of

Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war when army units loyal to competing administrations battled it out.

President Emile Lahoud, an ally of Syria, is due to step down from the presidency by November 23 and government supporters see the vote as the opportunity to put one of their own in the post.

But Hezbollah and its allies have vowed to block any candidate they do not approve and they can do so by boycotting the ballots, preventing the needed two-thirds quorum of 85 votes.

If no candidate is agreed on by the time Lahoud steps down, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and his cabinet would automatically take on executive powers.

If that happens, opposition supporters have said Lahoud might appoint a second government, a step many fear would break up the country.

SHOTLIST

1. Aircraft taxiing on runway

2. Wide of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stepping down from aircraft

3. Tracking shot of Ban and resigned foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh walking, then shaking hands for photographers

4. Ban walking to microphones

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General:

"The election of a new president should take place on time and in accordance with constitutional procedures. In this endeavour it is imperative that the parliament convenes in order to elect the new president. This president must be committed to TAIF reconciliation accord, the constitution and international legitimacy."

6. Cutaway of cameras

7. Ban leaving new conference

++NIGHT SHOTS++

8. Pan of Lebanese Parliament Speaker's residence, barriers and security at the entrance

9. Wide of meeting between Ban and Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri

10. Mid of Ban

11. Mid of Berri

12. Pull out from mid of delegates to wid of meeting

13. Cutaway of photographer

14. Ban and leader of parliamentary majority Saad Hariri shaking hands then walking into meeting room

15. Wide of meeting

16. Mid of Hariri

17. Mid of Ban

18. Various shots of meeting

19. Exterior of Lebanese Prime Minister's office building

20. Ban getting out of car, being greeted by officials as he goes up the steps

21. Wide of meeting between Ban and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora

22. Mid of Ban

23. Mid of Saniora

24. Wide of meeting

STORYLINE

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged Lebanon's deeply divided politicians to elect a new president with the "broadest possible acceptance" by the public, and to do it on schedule, as he tried to help break the deadlock over the crucial vote.

Ban launched the latest attempt by international officials to prod the country's feuding factions to agree on a candidate for the top post and avoid a dangerous power vacuum.

His visit comes a week before parliament is to convene for another try to elect a president.

Parliament is supposed to pick a new president before the term of current President Emile Lahoud ends on November 24.

But the Western-backed ruling coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition have been unable to agree on a candidate, sparking Lebanon's most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

He met with Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri who is one of the opposition figures.

The pro-Syrian opposition has been preventing the anti-Syrian majority from pushing through a candidate by refusing to attend parliament sessions until a compromise is reached.

The coalition is eager to put one of its own in place to replace Lahoud, a close ally of Damascus.

Three parliament attempts to hold a vote have failed since September, and the legislature is to try again on November 21.

"The election of the new president should take place on time and in accordance with constitutional procedures," Ban said. "In this endeavor, it

is imperative that the parliament convenes in order to elect a new president."

After arriving in Beirut on Thursday, Ban met first with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is aligned with the opposition, and with legislator

Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority.

He later met with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, whose government has been locked for the past year in a fierce power struggle with the opposition led by the Hezbollah group, which is backed by Syria and Iran.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Saniora and Ban discussed the presidential

election, Israel's reconnaissance flights over Lebanon and the need to speed up an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Failure to elect the next president could result in a power vacuum and possibly, in the formation of two rival administrations.

Ban was also to meet Friday with Hezbollah officials and Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, the head of the influential Maronite Catholic Church.

Under Lebanon's political system, the president must be Maronite, the country's largest Christian sect.

The church fears a power vacuum could threaten the Maronites' hold on the post.

SHOTLIST:

1. Exterior of parliament building

2. Lebanese flag

3. Various of legislators arriving at parliament

4. Tilt up armed Lebanese soldier

5. Various of members of parliament (MPs) entering parliament building

6. Various of meeting inside parliament

7. Various of Walid Jumblatt, senior Druse leader at the meeting

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Musbah Al-Ahdab, Pro-government Lebanese MP:

"The parliament has been totally paralysed and I think that we need to find a constitutional platform, we need to have this parliament to start working again in order to avoid all the tension that we are seeing in the streets and mostly that the situation has become very tense inside of the country and even regionally. So it is about time to bring back discussions where discussions should be, I mean in the parliament, the Lebanese parliament."

9. Wide of camera operators

10. Exterior of Ein El-Tineh palace

11. Nabih Berri heading to the news conference

12. Cutaway of reporters

13. Close of note taking

14. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Nabih Berri, Lebanese Speaker of the House:

"In post Ta'ef Lebanon there is no authority without a council of ministers. The authority is also for the whole council of ministers. The authority is for the whole parliament. Who said that you can deal with the issue in such a way? Therefore the parliament will not meet with this diminished (in number) government, only when it is fully restored (in terms of numbers) in one way or another. But this does not mean that there (inaudible) should be no sessions for the parliament. This is not a threat."

15. Cutaway cameramen

16. Reporters writing

17. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Nabih Berri, Lebanese Speaker of the House:

"As long as their aim is to terminate the dialogue ... my answer is: 'to continue the dialogue and extend hands until we save Lebanon."

18. Wide of Berri leaving conference

STORYLINE:

Pro-government lawmakers and their Hezbollah rivals on Tuesday dampened hopes that recent negotiations between the two camps in Lebanon would lead to an end to the country's four month long political crisis.

Several rounds of talks this month between Saad Hariri, head of the pro-government parliament majority, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri from

opposition ranks aligned with Hezbollah, defused some of the tension permeating Lebanon and revived hopes of a reconciliation.

But tensions escalated anew Tuesday, with 45 pro-government legislators gathering in the parliament to protest Berri's refusal to convene a session

on the crisis.

Musbah Al-Ahdab, a pro-government Member of Parliament (MP) said the Lebanese parliament had "been totally paralysed."

"I think that we need to find a constitutional platform, we need to have this parliament to start working again," he said. "It is about time to bring back discussions where discussions should be, I mean in the parliament, the Lebanese parliament."

Berri has said he would not convene the parliament before opposition demands for a national unity government are met.

He has also said that even though the constitution stipulates the parliament convene for the spring session on the first Tuesday after March 15, this was not mandatory.

Walid Jumblatt, a Druse lawmaker and key government supporter, accused Berri of "hijacking" the parliament upon orders from Iran and Syria - the

main Hezbollah backers.

Dialogue, said Jumblatt, can only be beneficial in parliament.

Berri lashed back at a news conference later on Tuesday, accusing the parliamentary majority of blocking efforts for a settlement to the crisis.

He said that the parliament would only meet with the government when it is fully restored.

" The parliament will not meet with this diminished (in number) government only when it is fully restored (in terms of numbers) in one way or another. But this does not mean that there (inaudible) should be no sessions for the parliament. This is not a threat," Berri said.

Berri also criticised Tuesday's protest in parliament which he said was held mostly by legislators belonging to Hariri's parliamentary bloc who aimed to" terminate the dialogue."

"My answer is: 'to continue the dialogue and extend hands until we save Lebanon," Berri said.

Hariri is Sunni Muslim and his community backs Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's pro-Western government.

Berri is a Shiite Muslim, and his party Amal and its Hezbollah ally draw their support from the country's Shiite community.

The Christian community has lent more support to the anti-government faction than the pro-government.

The Hezbollah-led opposition has been staging protests and an open ended sit in downtown Beirut since December 1 in a bid to topple Saniora's government.

The opposition demands the government give it a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet.

Saniora has refused this, and is supported by the majority in parliament.

The confrontation has stirred political and sectarian tensions that have threatened to tear the country apart.

Nine people were killed in street clashes since December between pro- and anti-government supporters.

The opposition and Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud consider Saniora's government to be illegal after five Shiite ministers and a pro-Hezbollah Christian minister resigned in November.

The pro-government, anti-Syrian camp wants parliament to convene so that it can give the go-ahead for the creation of an international tribunal to try

suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The Hezbollah-led front has demanded modifications to the proposal for the international court.

SHOTLIST

++4:3++

FILE: Exact Date Unknown

1. Mid of former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati walking into building

2. Mikati (right) posing for photo with former Lebanese President Emile Lahoud (centre) and parliament speaker Nabih Berri (left)

++16:9++

24 January 2011

3. Wide of Beirut skyline

4. Mid of traffic

5. Man reading newspapers headlines

6. Tilt down of newspapers' headlines featuring Mikati and current caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri

7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Name not given, Beirut resident, Vox pop:

"I do not care who will win. What I do care about is keeping the calm situation in the country and being able to go to work safely."

8. Mid of traffic

STORYLINE

A moderate politician and billionaire businessman with close ties to Syria emerged Monday as a candidate favoured by Hezbollah to head Lebanon's next government.

Lawmaker Najib Mikati, who served briefly as premier in 2005, announced he is seeking the post as a candidate of "moderation and accord" in formal talks starting Monday to choose a new prime minister.

Lebanon is in the midst of a political crisis nearly two weeks after the Shiite militant group Hezbollah brought down the country's unity government, headed by Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Hariri said Monday he won't take part in any government headed by a Hezbollah-backed candidate.

Hariri made the announcement Monday as President Michel Suleiman began two days of consultations with lawmakers over their choice of premier.

Hezbollah wanted Hariri to renounce a UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of his father, prominent Sunni businessman and former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Many fear Hezbollah will react violently if its members are indicted, as is widely expected.

Ministers from the Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies walked out of the government, forcing its collapse, after Hariri refused to disown the court which Hezbollah says lacks credibility.

Mikati, a Harvard graduate, is seen as a relatively neutral figure who enjoys good relations with Syrian President Bashar Assad and also with the pro-Western Hariri.

Mikati's candidacy brings Hezbollah and its allies closer to getting enough support to form a government on their own.

He is a founder of Mikati Communications Group, which includes Investcom, a leading Middle Eastern mobile phone company that has interests in Yemen, Syria and Cyprus.

The support of at least 65 lawmakers is required to form a government in Lebanon's 128-seat Parliament.

Hezbollah and its allies already claim 57seats.

Saad Hariri has 60.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide of 14th of March group (pro-government) chanting the National anthem

2. Saad Hariri, Saad Hariri, leader of parliamentary majority (right) and former president Amin Gemayel (left)

3. Various of Lebanese political leaders chanting the National anthem

4. Medium of Nayla Mouawad ( Wife of former assassinated Lebanese president Renne Mouawad)

5. Various of meeting

6. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, leader of the Lebanese parliamentary majority:

"We are calling upon the Lebanese government to respect the decision that was taken on December 12, 2005, in the presence of the Lebanese president, that calls for the formation of an international tribunal. We call on the government to approve the framework of the agreement with the United Nations and the basic law for the international tribunal."

7. Mid shot, Lebanese leaders

8. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Saad Hariri, leader of the Lebanese parliamentary majority

"We ask the 14th of Mach supporters to stay in their positions and we announce to the Lebanese that we will keep on defending their freedom, future and their democratic organisations."

9. Leaders applauding

STORYLINE:

Lebanon's political crisis took a turn for the worse on Sunday when the president said the Cabinet was no longer legitimate after the resignation of five Shiite Muslim ministers, including two representing Hezbollah.

President Emile Lahoud's position is a blow to his political rival, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, but does not carry legal weight because the Lebanese president is not empowered to dissolve the government.

Lahoud sent a letter to Saniora's office, saying that the 24-member Cabinet was no longer constitutional after all five Shiite Muslim ministers submitted their resignations Saturday.

He based his position on Article Five of the constitution that states "all sects should be justly represented in the Cabinet."

Lahoud's opponents in the parliamentary majority called on the government to meet anyway to approve an international tribunal in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

The parliamentary majority which is backed by the United States and is opposed to Syria has accused Hezbollah and Amal, the main pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian Shiite groups, of doing Damascus's and Tehran's bidding and seeking to undermine the formation of the international tribunal.

Saad Hariri, leader of the parliamentary majority, met on Sunday with the factions making up the majority coalition, and directly accused Syria and Iran of seeking to scuttle the formation of the international tribunal.

Hariri called upon the Lebanese government to "respect the decision that was taken on December 12, 2005, in the presence of the Lebanese president, that calls for the formation of an international tribunal".

The tribunal is to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of his father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri

The late Hariri's assassination was blamed by his supporters on Syria.

A UN investigation also implicated senior Syrian and allied Lebanese security officials.

The resignations of the five ministers, including two representing Hezbollah, left the Shiites, the country's largest single sect, out of the government.

It followed a stalemate in talks for a national unity government.

The resignations strips the government of major players.

While the 24-member government can still muster a two-thirds quorum to meet and take decisions, approval of the international tribunal without the presence of the Shiites could throw in doubt the legitimacy over such a decision in Lebanon's complex sectarian balance of political power.

SHOTLIST:

1. Exterior of parliament building

2. Lebanese flag

3. Various of legislators arriving at parliament

4. Tilt up armed Lebanese soldier

5. Various of members of parliament (MPs) entering parliament building

6. Various of meeting inside parliament

7. Various of Walid Jumblatt, senior Druse leader at the meeting

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Musbah Al-Ahdab, Pro-government Lebanese MP:

"The parliament has been totally paralysed and I think that we need to find a constitutional platform, we need to have this parliament to start working again in order to avoid all the tension that we are seeing in the streets and mostly that the situation has become very tense inside of the country and even regionally. So it is about time to bring back discussions where discussions should be, I mean in the parliament, the Lebanese parliament."

9. Wide of camera operators

10. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ali Bazzi, Anti-government Lebanese MP:

"There is dialogue and meetings going on between the speaker of the house Nabih Berri and Sheikh Saad Hariri (head of the majority legislators). We consider this atmosphere of exaggeration and escalation to be a stab for this dialogue and the meetings which are going on. It seems that they (majority legislators) have deprived the government of its legitimacy, constitutionality and credibility and now they are trying to deprive the parliament of its legitimacy."

11. Lebanese security forces

STORYLINE:

Majority legislators gathered in the Lebanese Parliament building in Beirut on Tuesday, to urge the Lebanese speaker of the house, Nabih Berri, to open the first session of parliament for the year.

The pro-government anti-Syrian camp wants Parliament to convene so that the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri could be ratified.

The Hezbollah-led front has demanded modifications to the proposal for the international court.

On Tuesday, key negotiations were ongoing between Berri and Saad Hariri, the head of the majority legislators.

Saad Hariri is a Sunni Muslim and his community backs Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's pro-Western government.

Berri is a Shiite Muslim, and his party Amal and its Hezbollah ally draw their support from the country's Shiite community.

The Christian community has lent more support to the anti-government faction than the pro-government.

Pro-government legislators launched a scathing attack on Berri, dealing a blow to negotiations between the two sides.

Musbah Al-Ahdab, a pro-government Member of Parliament (MP) said the Lebanese parliament had "been totally paralysed."

"I think that we need to find a constitutional platform, we need to have this parliament to start working again," he said. "It is about time to bring back discussions where discussions should be, I mean in the parliament, the Lebanese parliament."

Another MP, senior Druse leader Walid Jumblatt, accused Berri of hijacking parliament upon orders from Iran and Syria.

Anti-government MPs however said Tuesday's gathering in parliament would undermine dialogue between Berri and Hariri.

"We consider this atmosphere of exaggeration and escalation to be a stab for this dialogue and the meetings which are going on," MP Ali Bazzi said.

"It seems that they (majority legislators) have deprived the government of its legitimacy, constitutionality and credibility and now they are trying to deprive the parliament of its legitimacy," he added.

The opposition and Lebanon's pro-Syrian President, Emile Lahoud, considers Saniora's government to be unconstitutional after five Shiite ministers and a pro-Hezbollah Christian minister resigned in November.