SHOTLIST

++NIGHT SHOTS++

1. Exterior shot of Prime Minister's office in Beirut

2. Mid shot of Lebanese soldiers and armoured vehicle in position around Prime Minister's office

3. Mid shot of Lebanese soldiers

4. Wide shot of Lebanese soldiers and armoured vehicle

5. Wide shot of Prime Minister's office

6. Wide shot of Lebanese cabinet meeting

7. Mid shot of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora sitting at head of meeting

8. Mid shot of picture of murdered Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel placed in his position around meeting table

9. Various of cabinet ministers around table

10. Mid shot of picture of murdered Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel

11. Cameras

12. Mid shot of Lebanese Minister of Information, Ghazi Aridi, at press conference

13. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ghazi Aridi, Lebanese Minister of Information:

"(The cabinet) approved the creation of an international tribunal between Lebanon and the United Nations and authorised the Justice Minister to sign this agreement with the United Nations and also to send this approval to the Lebanese Parliament for authorisation.''

14. Cameras

STORYLINE

The Lebanese government on Saturday approved an international tribunal for suspects in the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, despite warnings of mass protests by its opponent Hezbollah.

Last-ditch attempts to reach a compromise between the government and the pro-Syrian camp, led by Hezbollah, appeared to fail as the cabinet moved forward with its meeting for a UN created court.

The tribunal is a key bone of contention in the power struggle between allies and opponents of Syria in Lebanon.

Anti-Syrian forces - mainly Christian and Sunni Muslim - dominate the government, but are facing a campaign by the mainly Shiite pro-Syrian camp to bring the government down.

The political crisis became potentially explosive this week with the assassination of an anti-Syrian politician, raising worries of more violence that could tear apart the country's fragile sectarian seams.

The anti-Syrian bloc brought out some 800,000 people for a mass rally at the funeral of the politician, Pierre Gemayel, on Thursday.

Hezbollah has shown it can bring out similar numbers for its protests - and if it goes ahead with its threatened demonstrations, many fear it could start a spiral of street action.

Earlier on Saturday, two key anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah and a Syria supporter, in an apparent attempt to find a compromise.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora offered to put off the contentious Cabinet vote for several days if six pro-Hezbollah ministers who quit the government earlier this month returned.

Hezbollah demands that the government be changed to give it and its allies more power, or else it says it will launch mass protests to topple Saniora.

But the reconciliation bid appeared to have failed, and the Cabinet meeting approved a UN draft for the tribunal.

In the eyes of Hezbollah, the approval of the tribunal amounts to a rejection of its demands for a greater representation in the Cabinet.

The Shiite militant group and Lebanon's pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, have denounced the current government as unconstitutional, because the constitution underlines that the government must represent all of Lebanon's main communities.

"(The cabinet) approved the creation of an international tribunal between Lebanon and the United Nations and authorised the Justice Minister to sign this agreement with the United Nations and also to send this approval to the Lebanese Parliament for authorisation,'' Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after the vote.

Aridi's statement went on to say that Prime Minister Saniora insisted the approval of the tribunal was not meant as a provocation against Hezbollah and its allies.

For opponents of Syria, the court is a major priority, and they hope it will uncover the truth behind the February 2005 assassination of Hariri in a massive bomb blast that killed 22 others, which they accuse Damascus of orchestrating. Syria has denied any role in the killing.

The court, which will sit outside Lebanon and have a majority of non-Lebanese judges, is to try four Lebanese generals - top pro-Syrian security chiefs under Lahoud including his Presidential Guard commander, who have been under arrest for 14 months, accused of involvement in

Hariri's murder.

The UN investigation into Hariri's death has also implicated Brigadier General Assaf Shawkat, Syria's military intelligence chief and the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Assad. But Shawkat is not in custody.

Hariri's death was the first in a string of attacks that killed five other prominent anti-Syrian figures - with Gemayel the most recent, in a bold daytime shooting on Tuesday.

Many Lebanese blame Syria in all the killings, which Damascus denies.

Since Gemayel's assassination, some ministers in Saniora's Cabinet have moved into the heavily guarded prime minister's building in downtown Beirut, fearing more slayings.

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 exterior of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's residence

2. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Hariri entering residence

3. King Abdullah shaking hands with Lebanese officials

4. Wide of meeting

5. Close of King Abdullah

6. Close of Hariri

7. Mid of Abdullah and Hariri meeting

8. King Abdullah waving from steps of plane as he departs

9. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Hariri and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman (left to right) waving to Abdullah

10. Wide of King Abdullah entering plane

11. Assad saying goodbye to Hariri, Suleiman and Lebanese officials

12. Wide of Assad's plane taking off

13. Wide of Abdullah's plane taxiing

14. Wide of Qatari plane on tarmac

15. Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani descending from aircraft and Suleiman ++MUTE++

STORYLINE

The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia launched an unprecedented effort on Friday to defuse fears of violence over upcoming indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri - the son of the slain statesman - met with Saudi King Abdullah at Hariri's residence in Beirut.

Earlier on Friday the two leaders, as well as Lebanese President Michel Suleiman met with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

It was a strong public show of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Syria, which for years vied for influence over Lebanon.

Following the meetings, Abdullah and Assad departed for their respective homelands, and shortly afterwards Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani arrived for talks with the Lebanese leadership.

Many fear that new violence between Lebanon's Shiite and Sunni communities could break out if the international tribunal investigating Hariri's death implicates the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which is Syria's main ally in Lebanon.

In May 2008, Hezbollah gunmen swept through Sunni pro-government neighbourhoods of Beirut, raising fears the country could fall into a new civil war.

That crisis was resolved only after fellow Arab countries mediated a truce and political compromise between the two sides that has tenuously held since.

Hariri was a Sunni leader with strong links to Saudi Arabia.

The international tribunal investigating Hariri's death has not announced who will be charged, but the leader of Hezbollah said last week members of his group will be among those indicted.

The summit was unusual on multiple levels, a sign of the depth of concern over the potential for violence.

Assad rarely goes to Beirut - his last trip was in 2002, which at the time was the first visit by a Syrian leader to the Lebanese capital in nearly three decades.

Many in Lebanon blame Syria for the truck bombing on Valentine's Day 2005 that killed Hariri, charges that Damascus denies.

The blast deepened a rift between Assad and Saudi King Abdullah, who each backed rival sides in the ensuing power struggle that nearly tore Lebanon apart since 2005: Syria backing a Hezbollah-led coalition and Saudi Arabia and the United States supporting a Sunni-led coalition.

In recent years, however, Assad and Abdullah have repaired ties, and the joint visit was a sign of how far the rift has healed.

No details were released about Friday's one-day summit, although Hezbollah Cabinet ministers were also expected to take part.

Another factor behind the summit may be worries that any turmoil within Lebanon could expand into conflict with Israel, which fought a 2006 war with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's announcement that his militia members would be implicated in Hariri's slaying appeared to be an attempt to undercut the repercussions of any indictment, and he dismissed the international tribunal as an "Israeli plot."

Hezbollah said it supports Friday's summit.

Hezbollah has immediate concerns that go beyond the tribunal, however, sparked by reports that Syria sent Scud missiles to Hezbollah and suspicions that Hezbollah patron Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons. Syria denies sending Scuds.

Hariri's death sparked massive anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon, dubbed the "Cedar Revolution," helping lead to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005, ending almost three decades of Syrian domination.

On October 31st 2016 thousands celebrated in Beirut as former army commander Michel Aoun was elected as the President of Lebanon, filling a post that had been vacant for more than two years and injecting hope that the country's long-running political paralysis would come to an end.

But the 81-year-old retired general who presided over the final bloody chapters of the Lebanese civil war and is a strong Hezbollah ally has an unenviable task ahead - forming a government out of the country's unruly political factions and dealing with an array of problems that includes what to do with more than 1 million Syrian refugees who have fled the war in neighbouring Syria.

Aoun, a Maronite Christian, enjoys a wide base of support among Lebanon's educated Christians, but is a deeply divisive figure for his role in the 1975-90 civil war and for his shifting alliances, especially with Hezbollah, the country's most powerful military and political force.

His election was seen by many as a clear victory for the pro-Iranian axis in the Middle East, giving a boost to Hezbollah and the Shiite Lebanese group's ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Lebanon has been without a head of state for 29 months after President Michel Suleiman stepped down at the end of his term in May 2014.

According to Lebanon's sectarian-based power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, its parliamentary speaker a Shiite Muslim and its prime minister a Sunni Muslim.

Parliament failed 45 times to elect a new president due to political infighting that led to a lack of a quorum as Aoun's bloc and allied Hezbollah lawmakers boycotted the sessions because his election was not guaranteed.

In the end, it took an about-face by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Lebanon's Saudi-backed Sunni leader, who formally endorsed Aoun for president the previous week - reportedly in exchange for Aoun promising him the position of prime minister.

***

Lebanon's newly-elected president, Michel Aoun, on November 3rd asked former Premier Saad Hariri to form a new government after he secured an overwhelming parliamentary majority to be named as the next prime minister.

Aoun's office made the announcement after two days of consultations with lawmakers over their choice of prime minister. The statement didn't say how many lawmakers supported Hariri for the post.

Aoun, a Christian leader and strong ally of the Shiite Hezbollah group, was elected by Parliament as president on October 31st, ending a 29-month presidential vacuum.

His election was made possible after Hariri endorsed him for president based on an understanding that Aoun would then appoint him as prime minister.

According to Lebanon's sectarian-based power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Muslim Sunni and the parliament speaker a Shiite Muslim.

The Aoun-Hariri deal is an unlikely partnership between rivals: Aoun, a long-time Syrian foe now allied with pro-Syrian forces, and Hariri, a vocal opponent of President Bashar Assad and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Hariri is the son of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in a massive seaside bombing in 2005 in Beirut. Several Hezbollah members are being tried in absentia by a Netherlands-based UN-backed tribunal.

Hariri was a political novice thrown into politics when he took over his father's political mantle after he was killed.

He headed a 14-month national unity government from late 2009 until early 2011, which collapsed after Hezbollah and its allies resigned from the Cabinet in a dispute over upcoming indictments in Hariri's assassination.

***

Lebanon's government on December 21st held its first cabinet meeting headed by a president in two and a half years.

The 30-member national unity cabinet was announced on Sunday nearly two months after new President Michele Aoun was elected.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri vowed that his top priority would be to protect the country from the effects of the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

***

Residents living in a Jewish outpost in the West Bank who face being permanently evacuated from their homes stressed on December 15th that they wish to stay, saying "this is our land."

Settlers in the Amona outpost rejected an offer from the Israeli government to leave the 50 trailers that they live in voluntarily, and face being forcefully evicted by security on December 25th.

The settlement was deemed by an Israeli court in 2014 to have been illegally built on Palestinian land.

Residents have played down any expectations of violence, although stones and tyres were piled at the entrance to the outpost.

"The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel, we do not agree to give up one centimetre of the land of Israel," said Avraham Eliyahu Landsberg, a yeshiva student.

Violent clashes took place in Amona a decade ago after a partial evacuation caused unrest between residents and security forces.

***

Israel's Prime Minister lashed out at US President Barack Obama on December 24th, accusing him of a "shameful" move at the United Nations over West Bank settlements and said he is looking forward to working with US President-elect Donald Trump.

December 23rd's resolution by the UN Security Council condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel rejected the resolution that got the green light after the US, Israel's closest ally, abstained.

It was a jarring rupture with past US vetoes.

Although the US opposes the settlements, it has traditionally used its veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council to block such resolutions.

Netanyahu said he spoke with U.S leaders who vowed to fight the move, including from the incoming Trump administration.

***

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on December 31st said he was willing to work with US President-elect Donald Trump to try to bring about peace with Israel, based on a two-state solution.

Abbas was speaking in Ramallah at an event celebrating the 52nd anniversary of the founding of the Fatah party.

He also thanked the US administration of President Barack Obama for allowing the UN Security Council to adopt Resolution 2334, which declared Israeli settlements on occupied lands illegal.

The two-state solution has been the basis for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians under the past several US administrations.

Trump, whose election platform made no mention of a Palestinian state, has indicated more sympathy for Israel's settlement policies than the Obama administration has.

Palestinians are now setting their sights on a MidEast peace conference in France next month in a bid to rally support as they prepare for the uncertainty of the Trump administration.

The Palestinians are hopeful that a strong international endorsement in Paris will insulate them from what they fear will be a close alliance between the president-elect and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

01:32:22

00:00:00

Thousands celebrate as Michel Aoun elected president

4063531

AP TELEVISION

Beirut - 31 October 2016

1. People holding newly elected Lebanon President Michel Aoun's portrait and waving flags

2. Poster of Aoun on a tower of the stage

3. Wide of rally

00:11:08

Lebanese president appoints Hariri as PM

4063996

AP TELEVISION

Beirut - 3 Nov 2016

4. Saad Hariri arriving at the presidential palace

00:16:16

Lebanon gets step closer to functioning govt

4072442

AP TELEVISION

Beirut - 21 Dec 2016

5. Wide of first cabinet meeting

6. Close of President Michele Aoun

7. Prime Minister Saad Hariri (left) and Aoun

8. Mid of Hariri

00:30:11

WBank settlers prepare for possible evacuation

4071441

AP TELEVISION

Amona, West Bank - 15 December 2016

9. Outpost trailers

10. Israeli flag

11. Various of people in outpost

12. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Avraham Eliyahu Landsberg, yeshiva student:

"The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. We do not agree to give up one centimetre of the land of Israel and we will not agree to that and even if sometimes you fall in battle, at the end we will win the war."

00:50:17

Israeli PM Netanyahu criticizes the UN and Obama

4072937

AP TELEVISION

Gaash - 24 December 2016

13. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walking to podium

14. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister:

"The decision taken at the UN yesterday was part of the swan song of the old world biased against Israel. We are entering a new era and as the US President-elect (Donald) Trump said yesterday, this is going to happen much quicker than people think."

01:18:08

Palestinian leader welcomes settlements vote

4073715

AP TELEVISION

Ramallah - 31 December 2016

15. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas walking toward grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ++NIGHT SHOT++

16. Abbas at ceremony at Arafat's grave ++NIGHT SHOT++

17. Supporter waving sign bearing Abbas' image ++NIGHT SHOT++

18. Various of Fatah supporters clapping and dancing ++NIGHT SHOTS++

SHOTLIST

1. Lebanese Premier Saad Hariri being greeted by Syrian President Bashar Assad at the presidential palace

2. Hariri and Assad walking inside presidential palace

3. Various of Hariri and Assad in bilateral meeting ++MUTE++

4. Hariri and Assad walking inside presidential palace

STORYLINE

Lebanon's prime minister, who has blamed neighbouring Syria for the assassination of his father, visited Damascus on Saturday for the first time since the 2005 killing - a trip that a close associate said was extremely difficult for him to make.

Despite the unresolved issue of his father's slaying in a massive truck bombing in Beirut, Lebanese Premier Saad Hariri's visit potentially opens the way for a new era in the two countries' relations, which have been characterised by upheaval and suspicion for decades.

The 39-year-old Hariri has appealed for relations with Syria based on "clarity and honesty."

He was greeted warmly by Syrian President Bashar Assad upon his arrival at the presidential palace at the start of his two-day visit, and Lebanese media said he would attend a dinner banquet hosted by Assad.

Hariri said in a statement his government was looking forward to establishing "real and strategic relations with Syria."

Assad adviser Buthaina Shaaban told reporters their talks were "frank" and "succeeded in overcoming difficulties that marred relations in the past five years."

Syria directly dominated Lebanon for nearly 30 years and kept tens of thousands of troops on its soil.

After the killing of Hariri's father, Rafik, Syria came under intense pressure from its opponents in Lebanon, who staged massive protests, and from the West, forcing it to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

Syria repeatedly denied involvement in the assassination and a series of other political slayings and bombings that followed, but Hariri and his supporters continued to implicate Syria in the killing.

Anti-Syrian parties were swept to power in 2005 elections in Lebanon.

According to Hariri loyalist and former lawmaker Mustafa Alloush the visit did not mean some in Lebanon had dropped their belief that Syria was responsible for the killing of Rafik Hariri, who also served as prime minister.

A UN-backed tribunal has been set up to prosecute the assassins, but no suspects have been charged.

Syria has sought recently to improve its relations with the West, largely through its actions in Lebanon.

Assad backed a peace deal between rival political factions in Lebanon that ended sectarian violence in May 2008.

Last year, Syria established formal diplomatic relations with Lebanon and set up an embassy in Lebanon for the first time since the countries' independence from France in the 1940s.

Syria still maintains influence in Lebanon through its backing of the militant group Hezbollah.

Hariri and his pro-Western political allies are in an uneasy power-sharing government with a Hezbollah-led grouping.

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 aeroplane taxiing on runway

2. Wide of officials waiting on red carpet

3. Mid of Lebanese, Syrian and Saudi Arabian flags

4. Wide of Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri

5. Officials disembarking from aeroplane

6. Various of Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad disembarking from plane

7. Abdullah and Assad greeting Berri, Suleiman and Hariri

8. Various of Abdullah and Assad greeting officials

9. Various of Abdullah and Assad walking into building

STORYLINE

The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia arrived in Beirut on Friday for an unprecedented effort to avert a simmering crisis in Lebanon.

Tensions are mounting over expected indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of the slain statesman, and President Michel Suleiman were at the airport as Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad landed.

It was a strong public show of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Syria, which for years vied for influence over Lebanon.

Many fear that new clashes between Lebanon's Shiite and Sunni communities could break out if the international tribunal investigating Hariri's death implicates Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which is Syria's main ally in Lebanon.

Hezbollah militants swept through Sunni neighbourhoods of Beirut in 2008, after the government moved to curb the group's military communications network.

Hariri was a Sunni leader with strong links to Saudi Arabia.

The international tribunal investigating Hariri's death has not announced who will be charged, but the leader of Hezbollah said last week members of his group will be among those indicted.

No details were released about Friday's one-day summit, which marks the first time Syrian President Bashar Assad has visited Lebanon since Hariri's killing in a truck bombing on Valentine's Day 2005. Many in Lebanon blame Syria for the killing, charges that Damascus denies.

Security was tight throughout Beirut on Friday as helicopters buzzed overhead.

Hariri's death prompted the rise of a U.S.- and Saudi-backed coalition known as March 14, named after the day of massive anti-Syrian protests in 2005 dubbed the "Cedar Revolution."

The demonstrations eventually led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops, ending almost three decades of Syrian domination that was established during Lebanon's civil war.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's announcement that his militia members would be implicated in Hariri's slaying appeared to be an attempt to undercut the effects of any indictment, and he dismissed the international tribunal as an "Israeli plot."

Regional tensions also are high over recent reports that Syria sent Scud missiles to Hezbollah and suspicions that Hezbollah patron Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons. Syria denies sending Scuds.

SHOTLIST

Tripoli

1. Wide top pan of protesters gathered in a major square in Tripoli

2. Protester removing banner with picture of Hezbollah candidate for the next prime minister, former premier Najib Mikati

3. Wide of poster of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri being carried by protesters

4. Wide of protesters, zoom in to burning truck belonging to Al-Jazeera TV station

Tripoli

5. Burnt out truck of Al-Jazeera

6. Wide of protesters and army with some protesters throwing objects towards soldiers AUDIO: Gunshot

7. Mid of protesters

8. Pan and zoom in to protesters chasing soldiers, throwing sticks and stones at them

9. Army troops moving behind fence, followed by protesters, sticks being thrown towards army

Beirut

10. Army Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) driving over burning tyres on Beirut street

11. Close of burning tyre

12. Wide of troops on street

13. Pan of APC driving past overturned rubbish bin, with burning rubbish on street

Beirut

14. Protester, with face covered by scarf, pouring fuel into the flames of burning trash bin, army troops in background

15. Mid of troops standing in street

16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Vox pop, No Name Given, Beirut Resident:

"We do not want a clergy supported prime minister, we do not want a prime minister imposed on us. We do not want a prime minister named by Hezbollah, we want Saad Hariri."

17. Burning wreckage on street

18. Car driving past flames

19. Burning cart

STORYLINE

Thousands of Sunnis waved flags and burned tires and a van belonging to Al-Jazeera on Tuesday in a "day of rage" to protest against gains by the Shiite group Hezbollah, which is on the brink of controlling Lebanon's next government.

On Tuesday, Lebanon's president formally appointed a Hezbollah-backed candidate as prime minister-designate and asked him to form a new government.

Billionaire businessman and former premier Najib Mikati won a majority of parliament support in two days of voting, defeating Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri as the candidate for the next prime minister.

Hezbollah's Sunni rivals held protests in different parts of Lebanon, including Tripoli, the capital Beirut and the main highway linking the capital with the southern port city of Sidon.

A senior military official said several armed men fired in the air in west Beirut, but the army intervened and dispersed them.

For the most part in Beirut the gatherings were localised and not hugely disruptive.

The largest gathering was in the northern city of Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni area, where thousands of people converged at a major square.

Al-Jazeera said none of its crew was injured when protesters attacked the station's van.

The protests come one day after the Iranian-backed Hezbollah secured support in parliament to name its own candidate, former premier Najib Mikati, for the next prime minister.

The majority of Lebanese lawmakers voted to support Mikati.

By the end of Tuesday's voting, he had 68 votes. Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri had 60.

The Shiite group is now in position to control the next government, which could give it an unprecedented level of political power in Lebanon

The group's Western-backed opponents maintain that having an Iranian proxy in control of Lebanon's government would be disastrous and lead to international isolation.

Many fear Lebanon's political crisis could re-ignite sectarian fighting similar to Shiite-Sunni street clashes that killed 81 people in Beirut in 2008.

Mikati urged calm on Tuesday and said he wanted to represent all of Lebanon.

Hezbollah brought down Hariri's Western-backed government on January 12 when he refused the group's demand to cease cooperation with a UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Hezbollah, which denies any role in the killing, is widely expected to be indicted.

The group can now either form its own government, leaving Hariri and his allies to become the opposition, or it can try to persuade Hariri to join a national unity government.

In a speech Sunday night, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said he favoured a unity government.

Hariri said on Monday he will not join a government headed by a Hezbollah-backed candidate.

Hariri's coalition issued a statement last week saying Hezbollah is trying to turn Lebanon into an "Iranian base" and was using intimidation to get its way.

Hezbollah has emphasised that the group brought down Lebanon's government democratically and without resorting to violence.

Even though Hezbollah backed him, Mikati is seen as a relatively neutral figure who enjoys good relations with both Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hariri.

The United States, which has poured in 720 (m) million US dollars in military aid since 2006, has tried to move Lebanon firmly into a Western sphere and end the influence of Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley warned on Monday that continuing US support for Lebanon would be "problematic" if Hezbollah takes a dominant role in the government, though he declined to say what the US would do if Hezbollah's candidate becomes prime minister.

SHOTLIST

Beirut

1. Protesters throwing stones at Lebanese army

2. Lebanese army personnel on street, clouds of tear gas in background

3. Lebanese troops arresting protesters and taking them away

4. Armoured personnel carrier (APC) on street

5. Various of Lebanese army personnel and vehicles, protesters in background

6. Mid of riot police

Beirut

++NIGHT SHOTS++

7. Lebanese army chasing after protesters

8. Various of protesters throwing stones

9. Ambulance driving off

10. Lebanese soldiers firing tear gas canisters

Beirut

++NIGHT SHOTS++

11. Pan of protesters at grave of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri

12. Various of protesters waving flags and chanting slogans

13.SOUNDBITE (English) Walid Abou Fakhr, protester:

"It is an ongoing event that is going to go and go and go and go, so that the Lebanese people will make sure that their sounds will be heard to the world."

14. Various of people viewing Hariri grave

Tripoli

++NIGHT SHOTS++

15. Travelling shot of Lebanese army vehicles in Tripoli

16. Mid of Lebanese army APC, traffic in foreground

17. Mid of traffic

18. Banner in Arabic reading: "We will not forget you Rafik Hariri"

19. Mid of traffic

20. Banner in Arabic reading "Who betrayed Sheikh Saad Hariri betrayed Lebanon "

STORYLINE

Lebanese army personnel and riot police used armoured vehicles and tear gas to keep control of the nation's capital on Tuesday, as Sunni demonstrators, angered by the rising power of Hezbollah, protested on the streets of Beirut.

On Tuesday, Lebanon's president formally appointed a Hezbollah-backed candidate as prime minister-designate and asked him to form a new government.

Billionaire businessman and former premier Najib Mikati won a majority of parliament support in two days of voting, defeating Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri as the candidate for the next prime minister.

Hezbollah's Sunni rivals held protests in different parts of Lebanon, including Tripoli, the capital Beirut and the main highway linking the capital with the southern port city of Sidon.

Some protesters in Beirut gathered at the grave of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, father of US-backed caretaker PM Saad Hariri.

Hezbollah brought down Hariri's Western-backed government on January 12 when he refused the group's demand to cease cooperation with a UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of his father.

Members of Hezbollah, which denies any role in the killing, are widely expected to be indicted.

The largest gathering was in the northern city of Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni area, where thousands of people converged at a major square and protested by burning tires and torching a van belonging to Al-Jazeera.

A senior military official said several armed men fired in the air in west Beirut, but the army intervened and dispersed them.

Soldiers also clashed with demonstrators in the town of Naameh, south of Beirut, and two civilians were wounded, security officials said.

The protests, which were continued after nightfall, were mostly localised and not hugely disruptive.

The vote caps Hezbollah's steady rise over the past few decades from a resistance group fighting Israel to Lebanon's most powerful military and political force.

Many fear Lebanon's political crisis could re-ignite sectarian fighting similar to Shiite-Sunni street clashes that killed 81 people in Beirut in 2008.

Hezbollah's rise also looked likely to also raise tensions with Israel, which borders Lebanon to the south.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a short but devastating war in 2006.

Despite opposition from the Hariri camp, Mikati is seen as a relatively neutral choice who enjoys good relations with both Syrian President Bashar Assad and with Hariri.

That puts Hariri in the awkward position of rejecting a candidate who has been an ally in the past.

Hariri's bloc has insisted it will not join a government led by a Hezbollah pick, which could mean months of political deadlock ahead in Lebanon.

According to Lebanon's power-sharing system, the prime minister must be a Sunni, the parliament speaker a Shiite and the president must be a Christian Maronite.

Each faith makes up about a third of Lebanon's population of four (m) million.

Because Mikati is a Sunni, protesters accused him of being a traitor to his sect and betraying Hariri.

After it was clear that Mikati won the support of a majority of lawmakers on Tuesday, Hariri thanked people for their support but called for restraint.

Hezbollah can now either form its own government, leaving Hariri and his allies to become the opposition, or it can try to persuade Hariri to join a

national unity government.

In a speech on Sunday night, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said he favoured a unity government.

Hariri said on Monday he would not join a government headed by a Hezbollah-backed candidate.

Hariri's Future bloc declared a day of peaceful protests Tuesday - but called it a "day of rage" and played on the sectarian dimension of the conflict.

Few countries are as vulnerable to the Middle East's mayhem as Lebanon, which in recent years has taken in a million refugees from the catastrophic war in neighboring Syria, seen the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia embroil itself in that war, and watched Saudi Arabia try to fire its prime minister.

Yet campaigning for this weekend's parliamentary election - the first in a decade - has timidly sidestepped the big issues, leaving many Lebanese expecting more of the same.  

It is an especially galling concept for those concerned a still-dominant Hezbollah could drag them into a looming Iranian-Israeli confrontation.

The voting for the 128 parliament seats is expected to be a test of sorts for the country's western-backed incumbent prime minister, Saad Hariri, and his Tehran-backed opponents from Hezbollah, which is looking to expand its seats in parliament along with its allies - likely at Hariri's expense.

But the two sides can hardly govern effectively without each other and are expected to recreate the unity government that currently exists, which incorporates members of the militant group.

Amid the regional turmoil, most of the campaigning has revolved around platforms of stability and economic growth, while many of Lebanon's civil war-era political titans are set to return.

A new election law agreed on last year has opened cracks through which rivals of Hezbollah from within the Shiite community could potentially challenge the group, and civil society activists and independents to try and break through the monopoly enjoyed to date by traditional parties.

Naamet Badreddine, 37, a candidate for Sawt al-Nas, and a former leader of the 2015 demonstrations over the waster crisis, says that the law does little for the independent candidates, especially women.

She says she and others still face barriers to breaking into an institution that favours money above all else.

She says she's faced trouble getting airtime on Lebanon's private television channels, where candidates are expected to pay thousands of dollars for a few minutes.

The law also promises to shake things up by reorganising Lebanon's electoral map, consolidating 23 districts into 15 and awarding seats by the share of the vote received, instead of on the principle of winner-takes-all.  

It also allows Lebanese expatriates to vote abroad for the first time, adding a level of unpredictability to the mix.

The last time elections were held in Lebanon was in 2009, and the house's term was supposed to expire in 2013.

Since then, members of parliament have extended their term twice, citing security threats linked to the war in neighboring Syria while also struggling to agree on a new election law.

Lebanon, a small Arab country on the Mediterranean, is technically a parliamentary democracy but is shackled by a decades-old sectarian-based power sharing system, and its politics are dominated by former warlords and family dynasties that have long exploited the system to perpetuate corruption and nepotism.

All senior government positions are allocated according to sect, including the head of state, who should be a Christian, the prime minister, a Sunni Muslim, and the parliament speaker, a Shiite.

Parliament is divided equally between Christians and Muslims and seats are further allotted according to religious sect.

The formula, based on outdated demographic data that does not account for nearly 200,000 Palestinians who are denied citizenship and a vote, allows people to vote according to their religious affiliations, not a political programme.

A collection of first time-hopefuls and civil society activists are campaigning for change, appealing for voters to vote against politicians who have drowned the country in trash and debt.

Many of them are civic activists who rose to prominence as organisers of protests over a 2015 waste collection crisis that left garbage in the streets for months and laid bare the extent of the public sector mismanagement plaguing Lebanon.

Hezbollah and its allies look set to scoop some of the seats lost by Prime Minister Saad Hariri's coalition, largely because of the expected fragmentation of the Sunni vote.

And the escalation in the conflict in Syria has only further fortified the supporters for Hezbollah.

Feelings ran high at a recent rally for the organisation's candidates.

Political analyst Amin Kamourieh believes Hezbollah "might even win the majority," while "nothing's pointing to" the other big parties, especially the Future Movement reaching one third of the votes.

Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who also holds Saudi citizenship and is a critic of Tehran, currently has the largest block in parliament.

However, some of Hariri's supporters shifted their loyalty after the billionaire businessman laid off scores of employees in his company, Saudi Oger, and Hariri-owned charities and media outlets in Lebanon, largely because of Saudi spending cuts.

The loss of support over financial cuts has been compounded by what some of his Sunni supporters see as a weak stance vis-a-vis Hezbollah, blaming him for catering and giving political cover to the group, which a UN-backed tribunal accused in the 2015 assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri.

Hezbollah offered its support to Hariri after he was briefly detained in Saudi Arabia late last year during a visit to Riyadh, during which he announced his resignation as prime minister, citing Iran and Hezbollah's meddling in the region.

The move was widely seen as Saudi coercion, although Hariri denies resigning against his will.

Hezbollah remains the most powerful force in Lebanon politically and militarily, with a virtual hold on politics.

The group now seeks, along with its allies, to get at least 43 seats of the 128-member legislature, or just over a third, which would enable it to veto any laws the group opposes.

Hezbollah has sent thousands of its fighters to Syria to shore up President Bashar Assad, and has cleared the vast region on the two neighbours' shared border of Islamic militants over the past few years.

Hundreds of its fighters have been killed and wounded in the process.

The group is now campaigning heavily on those achievements, and its leader is calling for heavy voter turnout, particularly in the area of Baalbek-Hermel in eastern Lebanon, traditionally a Hezbollah stronghold which now faces a challenge from rivals.

An independent candidate running on a list of five against Hezbollah in its stronghold of south Lebanon was assaulted by a group of men in last month, an attack which he blamed squarely on Hezbollah.

The candidate, journalist Ali al-Amin, a Shiite and vocal critic of the group, told The Associated Press he was subjected to extreme pressure not to run in the elections and was beaten up by members of the group, who accused him of being an "agent" of foreign embassies as he was hanging an election poster in the town.

The party denied the accusations.

Beirut - 5 April 2018

1. Various of parliamentary candidates' posters in central Beirut

Beirut - 9 April 2018

2. Naamet Badreddine, 37-year-old candidate for Sawt al-Nas and a former leader of the 2015 demonstrations over the waste crisis, walking

3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naamet Badreddine, 37-year-old candidate for Sawt al-Nas:

"Today there is a big challenge for women who are on the (candidate) lists. Firstly, the public is not politically inclined to recognise them, and media-wise there are large costs in order to appear on a TV programme and share your platform. At the same time, there's the system of the 'preferential vote' and we know that the established parties will make sure the votes go to their candidates. So now, it's on the voter, if he wants change and to vote for those who will make change, to vote for independent candidates or those outside the established powers, or those who haven't been polluted by the corruption of the establishment. Now the responsibility is on the public, from this day on the citizens carry the responsibility of their choices."

Zahle - 1 May 2018

4. Various of Hezbollah campaign rally

5. Close of women's hands reading (Arabic) "We are with you" and "God be with you."

6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Batool Awadah, Hezbollah supporter:

"Of course, we'll come first and be the best (in the elections). Because of our voice, our steadfastness. It is our honour to go vote in the name of Hassan (Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader), and those who represent him."

Beirut - 5 April 2018

7. Various of campaign posters

Beirut - 17 April 2018

8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amin Kamourieh, political analyst and newspaper columnist:

"The expectations are pointing to the fact that Hezbollah and the Amal movement, the Shiaa and the Sunni, and their allies, will be the biggest winners in this election. A third of the citizens are directly involved with these (Hezbollah) groups, and they might even win the majority. The big question is, whether the other big parties, especially the Future Movement (allied to Prime Minister Saad Hariri), and their close friends will be able to get one third of the votes? Until now, nothing's pointing to that."

Beirut - 27 April 2018

9. Ali al-Amin, Shiite candidate running against Hezbollah, at a demonstration in downtown Beirut in protest to his attack while campaigning

10. Wide of demonstration

11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali al-Amin, Shiite candidate running against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon:

"I was putting up a poster in my village Shaqra, Beit Jebel - a picture of me, as a candidate. And it was the first picture I was putting up. And I was prevented from doing this, by force. More than 30 or 40 people attacked me."

Beirut - 5 April 2018

12. Various of posters hanging from a bridge in central Beirut

13. Wide of street and candidates' posters

SHOTLIST

1. 'An-Nahar' newspaper building with big poster of Gibran Tueni on side

2. Close up on poster

3. People marching

4. Protesters shouting slogans

5. Various of demonstration, flag waving people

6. Various of closed shops, banks and schools

7. Various of security forces on the streets

8. Newspapers on sale

9. Various of newspapers

10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Vox pop:

"We ask for a firm decision about the Syrians and we call to impose sanctions on them and even change the regime. This regime looks very criminal, we cannot reach an understanding with them."

11. Various of mourning signs in Sassine Place in Ashrafieh (area of Beirut which Tueni represented in parliament), pictures of Tueni and Lebanese flags

12. Cars driving through the street with Tueni posters, part of funeral procession

13. Various of funeral procession, coffins (of Tueni and his two bodyguards) draped in Lebanese flags being taken through Sassine

14. Atef Majdalani, MP from Hariri bloc in parliament, reading newspaper

15. Cutaway photo of Atef Majdalani and former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri

16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Atef Majdalani, MP from Hariri bloc in Lebanese parliament:

"We call on the international community to stop these terrorist operations, these crimes and these assassinations that are being carried out by totalitarian regimes, by dictatorial and oppressive regimes."

17. Various of funeral, crowd holding signs and waving Lebanese flags

STORYLINE:

Thousands of flag-waving Lebanese - both Christian and Muslim - bid farewell on Wednesday to murdered newspaper editor Gibran Tueni.

The mass turn-out demonstrated the level of anger felt towards Syria, which has been blamed for the Monday car bombing which killed Tueni.

A general strike called in mourning for Tueni was widely respected with banks, businesses and schools closing their doors for the day.

Hundreds of Lebanese troops and police took up position in a central square where, on March 14, about a million people heard Tueni call for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon.

An outspoken critic of Syria, Tueni was killed by a car bomb on Monday as he was being driven to work through an industrial suburb of Beirut.

The 48-year old was the fourth anti-Syrian figure to be killed since February.

The series of bombings began with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a truck bombing.

A previously unknown group has claimed responsibility for the blast that killed Tueni and two bodyguards, and wounded 30 other people.

But Tueni's colleagues and political allies have blamed Syria, which has denied involvement.

In the Beirut district of Ashrafieh, which Tueni represented in parliament, several thousand people marched behind his coffin and those of his bodyguards.

Others waited outside An-Nahar's offices in the city centre, where a giant portrait of Tueni hung down the side of the building.

Men, women and children - including families and political activists - waved Lebanese flags and held pictures of Tueni.

Many shouted slogans against Syria and its President Bashar Assad.

The strike that anti-Syrian groups had called in mourning for Tueni was observed not only in Beirut, but also in the southern provincial capital of Sidon and in the mountains of central Lebanon.

But in eastern Lebanon, where pro-Syrian groups are dominant, the strike call was ignored.

Opponents of Syrian influence in Lebanon are counting on the public anger over Tueni's killing to bolster their cause and close ranks in the face of what they see as a Syrian threat to pick off their leaders one by one.

Meantime, on Tuesday the chief U.N. investigator into the Hariri assassination, German magistrate Detlev Mehlis, told the U.N. Security Council that the latest evidence strengthened his belief that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials were involved in the murder.

Mehlis had interviewed Tueni as a witness.

Hariri's death in February sparked mass protests and intensified international pressure which forced Syria to withdraw its army from Lebanon after nearly three decades of political and military control.

Syria has denied involvement in Hariri's killing.

France circulated a resolution in the Security Council co-sponsored by Britain and the United States, which would broaden the scope of the U.N. investigation to include all the attacks in Lebanon since October 1, 2004.

The draft resolution seemed to deflect the Lebanese government's request for an inquiry into Tueni's killing and an international tribunal for the suspected killers of Hariri.

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.

SHOTLIST

1. Wide of Druse leader Walid Jumblatt's news conference

2. SOUNDBITE (English): Walid Jumblatt, Senior Druse politician in the anti-Syrian coalition:

"I just accuse bluntly the Syrian regime. Because it does not want Lebanon, the people of Lebanon, to be free, independent, and to be safe and to be prosperous from the start. (Listens to reporter's question) By killing Pierre Gemayel they have killed one member of the Government, we still have the majority actually and we can approve the draft, the convention between the Lebanese government and the United Nations. They might kill another minister, its very possible, very plausible. And they might of course kill other members of parliament, because Pierre Gemayel was a member of parliament and a minister. So to reduce the majority in the parliament. They can do anything, because his only fear, Bashar (Syrian President Bashar Assad), is not to be indicted somewhere by the tribunal. And here I have to remind people that he said it, he acknowledged the fact indirectly that if a Syrian official is involved into the killing of Hariri (former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri), this Syrian is to be judged and tried. He said it in one of his famous so-called speeches. But even that he cannot afford it. Because he knows that if maybe a single corporal a single individual in Syria is involved into the crime, you know the system, their totalitarian system, is wholly involved.

3. Cutaway wide

4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): Walid Jumblatt, Senior Druse politician in the anti-Syrian coalition:

"It seems that the Syrian regime has resumed assassinations or they are carrying on with their assassinations and they will continue to kill. I'm expecting more assassinations. But whatever they do, we are here, we are here, and we are going to win."

5. Jumblatt rising and leaving room at end of conference

6. Reporters leaving

STORYLINE:

A prominent Lebanese politician on Wednesday accused Syria of assassinating Lebanon's Industry Minister, Pierre Gemayel, in a Beirut suburb a day earlier.

Walid Jumblatt, a prominent Druse politician in the anti-Syrian coalition, blamed Damascus for the death.

"I just accuse bluntly the Syrian regime. Because it does not want Lebanon, the people of Lebanon, to be free, independent, and to be safe," Jumblatt said.

Gemayel, minister of industry and scion of a prominent political family, was killed on Tuesday when two cars blocked his vehicle at an intersection in

the suburbs of Beirut.

He was shot numerous times through a side window of his car.

His killing - the fifth murder of an anti-Syrian figure in Lebanon in two years - immediately drew condemnations from all quarters.

The United States condemned the slaying as an act of terrorism.

Syria too condemned the assassination and denied any role in it.

President George W. Bush accused Syria and Iran of seeking to undermine the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, though he stopped short of blaming them for the 34-year-old's slaying.

In contrast however, Jumblatt openly accused Syria of being involved and he warned that the lives of more Lebanese political leaders could be in danger from the Syrian regime.

"They might kill another minister, its very possible, very plausible. And they might of course kill other members of parliament, because Pierre Gemayel was a member of parliament and a minister. So to reduce the majority in the parliament. They can do anything," said Jumblatt.

Jumblatt indicated that the slaying was linked to the plan for an international court to try suspects in former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri assassination.

"But we still have the majority actually and we can approve the draft, the convention between the Lebanese government and the United Nations," he said at the news conference.

Jumblatt said indictment by the international tribunal was something Syrian President Bashar Assad would want to avoid at all costs, and reason enough to kill other Lebanese leaders and "reduce the majority in the parliament."

"But whatever they do, we are here, we are here, and we are going to win," he declared to reporters.

SHOTLIST

1. Top shot of Beirut City

2. Wide of airport road

3. Workers hanging up flags

4. Various of Syrian flag and Lebanese flags

5. Large welcoming billboard with an image of Syrian president Bashar Assad, "Welcome amongst your people."

6. Wide of United Nations building

7. Mid of tent with images of missing Lebanese people

8. Various of poster with pictures of missing

9. Man looking at newspapers.

10. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Kaml al-Hajje, local resident:

"To be honest we were surprised about Bashar Al Assad's visit to Lebanon. The situation was bad between us and we did not believe that he would come."

11. Tilt down of newspapers

12. Close up of newspaper photo of Assad and Saudi Arabian King Abdullah

STORYLINE:

The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia were heading to Beirut on Friday to help defuse a simmering crisis over expected indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Many fear that new clashes between Lebanon's Shiite and Sunni communities could break out if the international tribunal investigating Hariri's death implicates Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which is Syria's main ally in Lebanon.

Hezbollah militants swept through Sunni neighbourhoods of Beirut in 2008, after the government moved to curb the group's military communications network.

Hariri was a Sunni leader with strong links to Saudi Arabia. The international tribunal investigating Hariri's death has not announced who will be charged, but the leader of Hezbollah said last week members of his group will be among those indicted.

No details were released about Friday's one-day summit, which marks the first time Syrian President Bashar Assad has visited Lebanon since Hariri's killing in a truck bombing on Valentine's Day 2005. Many in Lebanon blame Syria for the killing, charges that Damascus denies.

Security was tight throughout Beirut on Friday as helicopters buzzed overhead.

Hariri's death prompted the rise of a U.S.- and Saudi-backed coalition known as March 14, named after the day of massive anti-Syrian protests in 2005 dubbed the "Cedar Revolution."

The demonstrations eventually led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops, ending almost three decades of Syrian domination that was established during Lebanon's civil war.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's announcement that his militia members would be implicated in Hariri's slaying appeared to be an attempt to undercut the effects of any indictment, and he dismissed the international tribunal as an "Israeli plot."

Regional tensions also are high over recent reports that Syria sent Scud missiles to Hezbollah and suspicions that Hezbollah patron Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons. Syria denies sending Scuds.

The protests sweeping Lebanon have prompted an unusual demonstration of public resentment against the Hezbollah movement, the Iran-backed militant group that's long been the country's most powerful faction.

Last month, young men chanted the "people want to bring down the regime" as they gathered outside the office of legislator Mohammed Raad, the powerful head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc.

One shirtless man grabbed a metal rod and swung it at the sign bearing Raad's name, knocking it out of place as others cheered.

It was a rare scene in one of Hezbollah's strongholds, the southern market town of Nabatiyeh.

The explosion of protesters engulfing Lebanon has united many across sectarian lines and shattered taboos, with some taking aim at leaders from their own sects, illustrating a new, unfamiliar challenge posed to the militant group.

Hezbollah built a reputation among supporters in Lebanon as a champion of the poor and a defender of the country against Israel's much more powerful military.

It and its Shiite ally, the Amal party, have enjoyed overwhelming backing among the Shiite community since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, making them a political powerhouse that, along with allies, has dominated recent governments.

But now many protesters group Hezbollah with the ruling class that they are revolting against, and blame for wrecking the economy with years of corruption and mismanagement.

Protesters want that entire political elite out.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Amal's chief, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, have not been spared.

"All of them means all of them, and Nasrallah is one of them," protesters have chanted at some rallies in Beirut.

The demonstrations that erupted on October 17 spread throughout the country, including predominantly Shiite areas in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

In several instances, men suspected of being Hezbollah and Amal supporters beat up protesters and destroying their tents.

Some of those who had criticised Nasrallah and Berri on social media appeared in videos, after apparently being beaten, to apologise for what they did.

Amal denied any link to those behind the beatings, saying in a statement that they should be arrested and that they violated the movement's belief in freedom of opinion.

Hezbollah has survived many threats over the past years, including charges by a UN backed tribunal for the killing former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, an accusation Hezbollah strongly denies, a war with Israel in 2006 and war in neighbouring Syria, where Hezbollah has sent thousands of fighters to back President Bashar Assad, losing 2,000.

But now Hezbollah, which has long cultivated an image of defending the downtrodden, is finding itself attacked by those it is supposed to represent.

Hezbollah has sought to show it is sensitive to the complaints.

Last year it set up a bureau headed by one of its lawmakers tasked with fighting corruption.

Last week, amid the protests, Nasrallah said in a speech that authorities investigating corruption should start with looking at Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah's popularity has also stemmed from a vast array of services, through education, health and social networks.

It says it is still able to maintain that network despite intensified sanctions by Washington, which designates Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

Nasrallah has sought to walk a fine line.

In speeches, he expressed sympathy for protesters' demands but also accused foreign powers of exploiting them to undermine his group and warned against dragging the country into civil war.

Some of the Shiites who initially joined demonstrations have stayed away after the speeches.

Hardcore Hezbollah supporters and some officials contend that the United States, some Arab Gulf states and other rival nations are trying to take advantage of the protests to undermine the group.

Senior Hezbollah official Sheikh Ali Daamoush said the group differentiates between protesters' legitimate demands and those with agendas who attempted to achieve political goals which are not in the interest of Lebanon.

On a recent day when the Associated Press visited Hezbollah's stronghold south of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, in the company of a Hezbollah guide, there was no sign of the turmoil.

Its streets teemed with cars and a man in a uniform picked up trash as men and women, some in overflowing black abayas, others in jeans, passed by.

But there is sympathy for some of the  protesters' complaints.

"Officials will end up being removed and no one will be able to stop the protests. There are legislators who are stealing, there are officials who are stealing. People will rise against you," one resident, Ali Sharafeddine said, even as he expressed respect for Nasrallah and Berri.

Beirut - 7 November 2019

1. Poster of Hassan Nasrallah displayed on a car selling flags and posters in Beirut's southern suburb

2. Hezbollah, Syrian flag and other flags displayed for sale

3. Wide of traffic

4. Various of Lebanese and Hezbollah flags fluttering

5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Rida, resident of Beirut's southern suburb and Hezbollah supporter:

"Here in (Beirut's southern) suburb, it is true that we don't have blocked roads or demonstrations but the closure of roads outside the suburb is affecting us as shop owners, workers who cannot go to work, and schools that have been closed. I think that they should ask for their (protesters) demands through demonstrations but not by blocking the roads, they closing them on themselves, on other people. They are not closing the roads on the government, parliament members or ministers."

6. Various of traffic

7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rima Al Makadem, resident of Beirut's southern suburb and Hezbollah supporter:

"It seems that all of those who are protesting are politically-oriented, especially when they started using insults and when the government resigned all parties started coming down (to protest on the street) and it appeared that what they wanted was not only the resignation of the government."

8. Various of Hezbollah, Palestinian and Lebanese flags fluttering

9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Sharafeddine, resident of Beirut's southern suburb and Hezbollah supporter:

"The protests will continue. No one will be able to stop it, whether it is us or other people. As much as it gets politically-oriented, it will continue, there are protests on the ground. There are members of parliament who are stealing, there are people who are stealing, there are thieves, who should be careful, in the end the people will up rise against you (officials). They will protest against the legislators and ministers. Should it be like another (former Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi situation here?"

10. Protester waving Lebanese flags in Beirut's downtown

11. Lebanese flags fluttering

12. Various of protesters

SHOTLIST

1. Wide of exterior of Syrian foreign ministry building

2. Sign reading: (Arabic) "Syrian Foreign Ministry"

3. Car arriving, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem getting out and walking into foreign ministry

4. Wide of Mottaki and al-Muallem, zoom-in to Mottaki

5. Mid of al-Muallem

6. Wide of meeting

7. Wide of Mottaki and al-Muallem

8. Wide of meeting

9. Pan of car arriving at Syrian vice-president's office, zoom in to Mottaki and Iranian delegates getting out, pan as they walk into office

10. Wide of meeting

11. Mid of Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa

12. Mid of Mottaki, pull out to wide of meeting

13. Wide of meeting

STORYLINE:

Iran's foreign minister made an unscheduled visit to Damascus on Thursday, a day after the UN Security Council voted to unilaterally establish an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held talks with his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Muallem and Syria's Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa.

Mottaki also met Syrian President Bashar Assad and was due to meet with other senior Syrian officials.

He did not speak to reporters.

A UN investigation has implicated Syria in Hariri's assassination in 2005 when the Syrian army controlled Lebanon.

Syria has denied involvement.

Syria is Iran's closest Arab ally.

SHOTLIST

1. Wide exterior of parliament building in Damascus with troops on parade

2. Various of Syrian President Bashar al Assad's arrival

3. Wide of Assad addressing parliament

5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar al Assad, Syrian President:

"We stood firmly against the war in Iraq. We opposed to the occupation and insisted on the establishment of a timeline for the withdrawal of the occupying foreign troops. We believe the Iraqi people have the right to resist this occupation, but we also support the political process in Iraq, on the condition that all different sects of Iraqis are represented in that process. We let it be known that we are ready to make every effort to establish a national dialogue in Iraq. Not because we want to please anybody, but because we are sincere in our desire to achieve stability for our brothers in Iraq and the region. Let me make this very clear - our role in Iraq is to help the Iraqi people get through the current national crisis and not to help the occupation forces clean up the mess they are in."

6. Wide of parliament hall - members of parliament applauding

7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar al Assad, Syrian President:

"The issue of the International Court (to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri) is strictly between Lebanon and the United Nations, as far as we are concerned. It does not concern us directly. Syria will not to co-operate, on this or any other issue, if its national sovereignty is threatened in any way."

8. Wide of parliament hall - Members of Parliament applauding

9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar al Assad, Syrian President:

"We have not seen any progress as far as the peace process is concerned. We have not had any contact with Israel, secret or otherwise, because Israel is not ready on the official and popular level for a just and comprehensive peace, which requires strong leadership that can take decisive decisions, in addition to a mature public opinion that can push their governments in that direction."

10. Wide of parliament hall - members of parliament applauding

11. Assad waving to crowd as members of parliament cheer and applauding

12. Wide of parliament hall - members of parliament cheering and applauding

STORYLINE

Syrian President Bashar al Assad said on Thursday the current Israeli government was weak and not prepared for a just peace with its neighbours.

Addressing the opening of the newly elected parliament, the Syrian leader also denied direct or secret contacts with Israel and stressed the longstanding Syrian demand for withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Golan Heights in return for peace with the Jewish state.

"We have not had any contact with Israel, secret or otherwise, because Israel is not ready on the official and popular level for a just and comprehensive peace, which requires strong leadership that can take decisive decisions, in addition to a mature public opinion that can push their governments in that direction," he said.

He noted that the peace process had failed to progress in the absence of an honest broker, an allusion to the US tilt toward Israel.

Assad also said that Syria would make every effort to help establish a national dialogue in Iraq and restore stability to the country for the sake of the Iraqi people, but stressed his government had no interest in offering support to the US-led coalition forces currently in Iraq.

"We are ready to make every effort to establish a national dialogue in Iraq. Not because we want to please anybody, but because we are sincere in our desire to achieve stability for our brothers in Iraq and the region," Assad said.

"Let me make this very clear - our role in Iraq is to help the Iraqi people get through the current national crisis and not to help the occupation forces clean up the mess they are in," he added.

Assad's comments come on the heels of landmark talks on Iraq between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, during the International Conference on Iraq.

Officials on both sides were hopeful that the meeting, which took place last week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, would mark a starting point for a new relationship between the Syria and the US.

Assad also commented on efforts by the members of the Lebanese government to establish an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Assad said the matter was "strictly between Lebanon and the United Nations, as far as we are concerned."

It did not, he said, concern Syria directly.

Syria is accused by many of orchestrating the assassination of Hariri, who was vocally opposed to Syria's military and political involvement in Lebanon.

Damascus vehemently denies any involvement.

SHOTLIST

1. Syrian President Bashar Assad walking into Elysee Palace UPSOUND Fanfare

2. Tracking shot of Assad walking towards building

3. Wide of French President Nicolas Sarkozy waiting at top of steps

4. Zoom on Assad ascending steps and shaking hands with Sarkozy

5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar Assad, President of Syria:

"The peace process has moved along through an American initiative over several months and has involved Syria and Palestine but nothing concrete has resulted. Should one blame the mediators? One can't do that without reference to the parties concerned. On the one hand, the Arab sides have been willing to make peace but, on the Israeli side, this (expression) is non-existent."

6. Mid of Sarkozy and Assad shaking hands and walking inside

STORYLINE

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday blamed a lack of willingness on the part of Israel for the stalled Middle East peace process.

Assad made the comment in Paris after meeting his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace.

Assad said the "Arab sides have been willing to make peace but, on the Israeli side, this (expression) is non-existent."

After months of gruelling diplomacy, using a mixture of pressure and promises, the US on Tuesday abandoned attempts to persuade Israel to slow West Bank settlement activity.

The Palestinians had demanded the freeze in exchange for engaging in direct talks that were supposed to lead to a Palestinian state side-by-side with Israel.

That deal, it was hoped, would lead to a broader Middle East peace accord.

Assad and Sarkozy also discussed the situation in Lebanon.

A spokesman for the UN tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri said on Wednesday it will be weeks or even several months before the details of expected indictments are made public.

The court has kept silent on possible suspects, but several foreign media reports have said the court has evidence that members of Hezbollah, the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Shiite militant group, were behind the assassination.

That is raising fears of more violence in the fractured country.

Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who was Lebanon's most prominent politician in the years after the 1975-1990 civil war, might have made enemies by seeking in the last few months of his life to limit Syria's influence in the country, a legacy of the years of conflict.