Hezbollah Grabs Power In Lebanon, Plunges Country Into Uncertainty

04:00

January 13, 2011

Lebanese Ministers hold a press conference to announce their resignation from the government, January 12, 2011. (AP) — Lebanese Ministers held a press conference yesterday to announce their resignation from the government. (AP)

The collapse of Lebanon's government plunged the country into deep political uncertainty today after a year of relative stability, as the president began the process of putting a new administration together.

Lebanon's president, Michel Suleiman, asked Saad Hariri to stay on as caretaker prime minister after the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah and its allies resigned yesterday and brought down Hariri's government. The crisis was the climax of tensions that have been simmering for months over the U.N. tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

We speak to Thanassis Cambanis, author of "A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah's Legions And Their Endless War Against Israel."

New York Times: Op Ed — Hezbollah’s Latest Suicide Mission
Here & Now: Author Says Talking To Terrorists Could End Conflicts

This segment aired on January 13, 2011.