Hezbollah extends its power in Lebanon

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday named the candidate of the radical Shiite Islamist Hezbollah party, Najib Mikati, as the new prime minister. Although Mikati is a Sunni and widely seen as a moderate, the appointment nevertheless strengthens Hezbullah's power base, writes the daily Le Temps: "This advance of Hassan Nasrallah's party should only surprise those - like the United States - who believed it was possible to banish Hezbollah from the political map. The Shiite party's supporters have never stopped growing in number. Politically speaking the movement that Washington still considers a terrorist organisation has spread its web to the point where in the past months nothing has happened in Lebanon without Hezbollah's approval. In military terms the party is a state within the state, and is far stronger than the Lebanese army."

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