Lebanon: Prime Minister Is Reappointed

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, left, was reappointed for another year despite his deep unpopularity with the Hezbollah-led opposition. The new president, Michel Suleiman, had no choice but to appoint him after a majority of the members of Parliament gave Mr. Siniora their support. Opposition leaders have often accused Mr. Siniora of serving American interests and governing autocratically. Mr. Siniora was widely expected to lose his position after the recent signing of a political agreement among the country’s political factions. That deal gave the militant Shiite group Hezbollah decisive new powers but left the Western-allied government majority in place. Some analysts said the opposition did not care much who held the post in the current caretaker government, which will last only until parliamentary elections in spring 2009.