Lebanon factions form government, ending nine-month deadlock
BEIRUT — Lebanese political factions agreed Thursday to form a new government, breaking a nine-month deadlock that only deepened the country’ economic woes.
Rival political groups had been locked in disagreement over the make-up of a new government since May, after the country’s first parliamentary elections in nine years.
Lebanon’s powerful Shiite group Hezbollah made significant gains at the expense of the largest Sunni party, headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, further contributing to traditional horse trading among rival factions to form governments in Lebanon.