Lebanon's Sunni leader considers toppling gov't as "red line"

Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, spiritual leader of the Sunni Muslims in Lebanon, has backed Prime Minister Fouad Seniora's government by saying that toppling the government is a "red line", local Naharnet news website reported on Saturday.

Qabbani made the statements to worshippers at a Friday sermon at a Sunni mosque in Beirut, said the report.

"Bringing down Prime Minister Fouad Seniora and the government in the street is a red line," he told the worshippers.

He said that "the Lebanese, regardless of their disagreements, will reconcile with their brethren," adding "they (protestors) are our brethren" and demands by the Hezbollah-led alliance would not be met.

"In that framework, we strongly stand by Prime Minister Fouad Seniora... and toppling him and the government in the street is regarded a red line which we will never allow to go beyond," Qabbani stressed.

Lebanese sectarian tension in the cabinet began to escalate last month when six pro-Syria ministers resigned after Seniora and the anti-Syrian majority in the parliament rejected the opposition 's demand for a new national unity government.

The opposition has been staging an open-ended sit-in for eight days in Beirut in a bid to topple Seniora's government and form a national unity cabinet.

Source: Xinhua