BEIRUT, Jan 14: Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Saad Hariri pledged on Friday to fully work with President Michel Sleiman on forming a new government after the powerful Hezbollah forced the collapse of his cabinet.

“My allies and I will participate in consultations (to name a new premier) and will fully cooperate with the president to form a new government in line with the requirements to maintain national unity,” Hariri said in a brief statement after meeting with Sleiman.

“I never sought power,” he added in his first remarks since the collapse of his government on Wednesday.

“Between power and the dignity of my family and nation, I choose the dignity of Lebanon and the Lebanese.” Hariri's 30-strong unity government collapsed with the resignation of 11 ministers led by the militant party Hezbollah.

The western-backed premier, who returned to Lebanon on Friday from week-long talks in the United States, France and Turkey, said the event was “unprecedented in the history of Lebanese governments.” The walkout came after months of wrangling over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), a UN-backed probe into the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Saad's father, in a 2005 bomb blast.

Hezbollah wants Hariri to disavow the tribunal, which is reportedly poised to indict senior members of the Shiite movement in connection with the assassination.

Although he did not specifically refer to the tribunal, Hariri made clear he would not cave in to pressure to reject the court.

He accused his political opponents of scuttling Saudi-Syrian efforts to settle a long-running standoff over the tribunal and indicated he would not cave in to pressure.

He accused Hezbollah of refusing to make concessions while pressing him to “make personal and national sacrifices”.

Hariri said his consultations this week with US, Saudi, French and Turkish officials were aimed at “protecting Lebanon from sliding into the unknown.” “Some took advantage of the situation to ... put an end to the political truce” brokered by Saudi Arabia and Syria, he said, adding that dialogue was the only way out of the current impasse.

“No one party in Lebanon can rule on its own,” he said.

Sleiman is to begin consultations on Monday with parliamentary groups on appointing a new premier.—AFP