SHOTLIST

1. Arrival of convoy with Alexander Sultanov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

2. Sultanov walking with officials

3. Pan from cameramen and photographers to Sultanov and Fawzi Salloukh, former Lebanese Foreign Minister

4. Mid of Sultanov

5. Mid of Salloukh

6. Wide of meeting

7. Cutaway cameramen

8. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic), Alexander Sultanov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister:

"We discussed the international tribunal and other internal affairs. We agreed on the continuation of national dialogue, a dialogue of all the problems in Lebanon, because dialogue is the only way to save the national consensus and unity."

9. Cameramen

10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Fawzi Salloukh, former Lebanese Foreign Minister:

"Russia will take all necessary action to help and support in finding a solution to the problem."

11. Convoy leaving

12. Presidential palace

13. Sultanov at meeting with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud

14. Mid of Lahoud

15. Mid of Sultanov

16. Exterior, Prime Minister's office building

17. Lebanese flag

18. Various of meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora

19. Exterior of Ein El-Tineh Palace

20. Various of meeting with parliament speaker, Nabih Berri

STORYLINE:

Envoys from Russia and the UN were involved in Beirut on Tuesday in what may be a last-ditch attempt to win approval from Lebanon's opposing camps for an international tribunal into the assassination of Lebanon's prime minister, Rafik Hariri, a subject that's divided Lebanese opinion and which threatens the country's stability.

The parliament has put off approving a draft agreement with the United Nations, paralyzed by a political crisis between the government, which wants a multi-national tribunal to prosecute suspects in the 2005 assassination, and the Hezbollah-led opposition, which wants more discussion first.

The Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and the parliamentary majority have asked the United Nations to impose the Hariri tribunal and bypass the Lebanese legislature but opposition leaders have warned that such intervention could spell more trouble for the country.

Clashes over the issue have already caused nine deaths.

Opposition campaigners have been camping outside Saniora's office since December, 2006, paralyzing large parts of the capital's commercial district to demand his resignation but Saniora has refused to step down.

Russia's deputy foreign minister, Alexander Sultanov arrived for talks in Beirut with various Lebanese officials and the former Lebanese foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh.

Sultanov said that Russia was eager to help find a compromise, not impose a solution, stressing that the Lebanese need to find consensus through dialogue.

"We discussed the international tribunal," he said. "We agreed upon the continuation of the national dialogue, a dialogue of all the problems in Lebanon, because dialogue is the only way to save the national consensus and unity."

Fawzi Salloukh, who resigned as Lebanon's foreign minister, said that Russia would do what is necessary to help and support in finding a solution to the problem.

Russia, with a veto on UN Security Council resolutions, has enjoyed good relations with Lebanon and Syria, which has been widely accused of involvement in the assassination.

Sultanov also met with Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He is then expected to travel to Syria, which remains an important player despite the withdrawal of its army from Lebanon in the wake of Hariri's assassination.

Along with Sultanov, the top UN legal chief Nicolas Michel was flying in later Tuesday to Beirut to help overcome the impasse.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is scheduled to visit Syria next week, after a trip to Lebanon in March.

The anti-Syrian majority in Parliament blames Damascus for killing Hariri, an accusation Syria vehemently denies, and say the Syrians were using their Lebanese allies to undermine the formation of the tribunal.

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 the temporary council of ministers building

2. Security outside meeting

3. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora walking to podium to address news conference

4. Cameras

5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): Fuad Saniora, Lebanese Prime Minister:

"Today at this crucial moment of the historic meeting for the second independent government, we approved unanimously a UN draft setting up an international tribunal as a rejection of, and defending Lebanon from, other attempts of assassination. We tell the criminals that we will not give up our right, no matter what the difficulties and obstacles are. Our aim is to achieve justice and only justice."

6. Wide of news conference

7. Various of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora at meeting

8. Wide shot of ministers at meeting

9. Empty seats at the table due to the resignation of the Shiite ministers

10. Ministers at meeting

11. Various of ministers arriving for meeting

12. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Elias El-Murr, Lebanese Defence Minister:

"My presence today is to endorse the agreement of the international tribunal which will stop the accumulation of crimes in this country for which the Lebanese have paid the price for years."

13. Arrival of minister Nayla Mouawad (wife of former assassinated Lebanese president Renne Mouawad)

Southern Beirut suburb

14. Cars passing nearby Hassan Nasrallah huge poster

15. Set up shot of Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahhal

16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): Hussein Rahhal, Hezbollah spokesman:

"The cabinet meeting today after the resignation of five ministers is unconstitutional. It is against the common living principle contravening a provision in Lebanon's constitution to ensure the distribution of political power among Christian and Muslim sects. This government lacks for the fair representation so this means that this government lacks for the constitutional requirement and its resolutions are illegal."

17. Close-up of Hezbollah flag

18. Traffic

STORYLINE:

The Lebanese government on Monday approved a UN draft setting up an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora announced.

"We unanimously approved the draft," the prime minister told a news conference after a three-hour meeting.

"We tell the criminals that we will not give up our rights, no matter what the difficulties and obstacles are," he said.

Hariri was killed along with 22 others in a massive suicide truck bombing in February 2005.

The assassination sparked large anti-Syrian protests in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence.

Subsequent elections brought an anti-Syrian majority to power in parliament and the Cabinet.

The UN investigation has implicated top Syrian officials, but Syria has denied any role in the assassination.

Saniora, whose anti-Syrian majority dominates the Cabinet, convened the session on Monday over the president's objections and despite resignations of six ministers, five of them Shiite Muslim including those from Hezbollah and Amal, who quit in a dispute with the prime minister.

But the resignations cast a shadow over the decision because Shiites were not represented in the Cabinet as required by Lebanon's delicate distribution of political power among its Christian and Muslim sects.

"This government lacks for the fair representation so this means that this government lacks for the constitutional requirement and its resolutions are illegal," said Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahhal.

Still, all 18 remaining ministers attending the meeting approved the United Nations document, and they defended the Cabinet's decision as legal.

Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Lebanese Defence Minister Elias El-Murr showed his support for an international tribunal which he said would, "stop the accumulations of crimes in this country which the Lebanese have paid its price for years."

Meanwhile, al-Qaida purportedly issued a statement in the London-based Al Hayat newspaper threatening to topple Lebanon's "corrupt", Western-backed government.

The Al Hayat newspaper reported that al-Qaida issued the statement from the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in northern Lebanon.

But Palestinian factions that run the camp denied al-Qaida had any presence there, and the Lebanese government cast doubt on the statement's authenticity.

Al Hayat did not say how it obtained the statement, whose authenticity could not be independently confirmed.

SHOTLIST:

1. Exterior of the temporary council of ministers building

2. Security outside meeting

3. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora walking to podium to address news conference

4. Cameras

5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): Fuad Saniora, Lebanese Prime Minister:

" Today at this crucial moment of the historic meeting for the second independent government, we approved unanimously a UN draft setting up an international tribunal as a rejection of, and defending Lebanon from, other attempts of assassination. We tell the criminals that we will not give up our right, no matter what the difficulties and obstacles are. Our aim is to achieve justice and only justice."

6. Cutaway of journalists

7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): Fuad Saniora, Lebanese prime minister:

" We definitely think that our brothers (Shiite ministers) who were not able to attend this meeting were with us in this historic session and they have assured many times that they are committed to knowing the truth by forming the international tribunal."

8. Cutaway cameraman

9. Wide of news conference

10. Various of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora at meeting

11. Empty seats at the table due to the resignation of the Shiite ministers

12. Various of ministers at the meeting and cameras

13. Various of ministers arriving for meeting

14. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Elias El-Murr, Lebanese Defence Minister:

"My presence today is to endorse the agreement of the international tribunal which will stop the accumulation of crimes in this country for which the Lebanese have paid the price for years."

15. Arrival of minister Nayla Mouawad (wife of former assassinated Lebanese president Renne Mouawad)

STORYLINE

The Lebanese government on Monday approved a UN draft setting up an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora announced.

"We unanimously approved the draft," the prime minister told a news conference after a three-hour meeting.

"We tell the criminals that we will not give up our rights, no matter what the difficulties and obstacles are," he said.

Hariri was killed along with 22 others in a massive suicide truck bombing in February 2005.

The assassination sparked large anti-Syrian protests in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence.

Subsequent elections brought an anti-Syrian majority to power in parliament and the Cabinet.

The UN investigation has implicated top Syrian officials, but Syria has denied any role in the assassination.

Saniora, whose anti-Syrian majority dominates the Cabinet, convened the session on Monday over the president's objections and despite resignations of six ministers, five of them Shiite Muslim including those from Hezbollah and Amal, who quit in a dispute with the prime minister.

Speaking after the meeting, the Lebanese Prime Minister referred to those absent from the meeting.

"We definitely think that our brothers (Shiite ministers) who were not able to attend this meeting were with us in this historic session and they have assured many times that they are committed to know the truth by forming the international tribunal," he said.

But the resignations cast a shadow over the decision because Shiites were not represented in the Cabinet as required by Lebanon's delicate distribution of political power among its Christian and Muslim sects.

Still, all 18 remaining ministers attending the meeting approved the United Nations document, and they defended the Cabinet's decision as legal.

Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Lebanese Defence Minister Elias El-Murr showed his support for an international tribunal which he said would, "stop the accumulations of crimes in this country which the Lebanese have paid its price for years."

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide of city skyline

2. Mid of cars

3. Mid of pedestrians

4. Pan of traffic

5. People reading newspaper headlines

6. Tilt down of newspapers

7. Newspaper headline reading (Arabic): "The resignation is the gate for consensus"

8. Man reading newspaper

9. Close up of newspaper

10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naim Saleh, resident

"The situation is getting worse and worse because we are moving from a security vacuum into a constitutional one, this is all because the division between the sects and the people is also affecting the government."

11. Mid of traffic

STORYLINE:

Beirut residents on Saturday awoke to a constitutional vacuum in the country's government, a day after the prime minister resigned as a sign of protest against government infighting.

Najib Mikati stepped down on Friday after the parliament was unable to agree on a law to govern elections set for later this year. He also objected to the Cabinet's refusal to extend the tenure of the country's police chief, who is about to retire.

Underpinning the political crisis are Lebanon's hugely sectarian politics and the fact that the country's two largest political blocs support opposite sides in Syria's civil war.

Lebanon and Syria share a complex network of political and sectarian ties, and many fear that violence in Syria will spread to Lebanon.

"The situation is getting worse and worse because we are moving from a security vacuum into a constitutional one, this is all because the division between the sects and the people is also affecting the government," said Beirut resident Naim Saleh.

There were signs of rising tensions before Mikati's speech.

Gunmen who support and oppose Syrian President Bashar Assad clashed on Friday in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, leaving six people dead and more than 20 wounded, according to state-run National News Agency.

Clashes between the Sunni neighbourhood of Bab Tabbaneh, which supports Syria's rebels, and the adjacent Alawite neighbourhood of Jabal Mohsen, which supports Assad, have broken out repeatedly in recent months.

Also in Tripoli, the Lebanese army said a soldier was killed and several others wounded during an army raid to capture several gunmen.

Mikati's resignation follows months of political wrangling in the Lebanese parliament that has yet to agree on a law to govern parliamentary elections planned for June.

The failure to agree on a law could delay the vote.

Also, the Hezbollah-dominated Cabinet has refused to extend the tenure of Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, Lebanon's police chief, who is considered a foe by the Islamic militant group.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman must accept Mikati's resignation for it to be official, a step that is all but a formality.

Mikati has been prime minister since June 2011, heading a government dominated by Hezbollah and its allies.

Their main rivals are a Western-backed coalition headed by former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, son of Rafik Hariri, who was also Prime Minister and killed in a truck bombing in 2005.

A Harvard-educated billionaire, Mikati was chosen to lead the government after Hezbollah forced the collapse of Lebanon's previous, pro-Western government over fears a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the killing of the elder Hariri would indict Hezbollah members.