Lebanese PM-designate steps down

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stepped down Thursday after a Hezbollah-led parliament minority rejected his proposed Cabinet.

The move by the Saudi- and U.S.-backed billionaire -- the second son of assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri -- forces President Michel Suleiman, under Lebanon's constitution, to consult with lawmakers again before choosing a new prime minister.

Suleiman is expected to meet with them as early as next week.

Speculation has arisen that Hariri may be asked again to form a new government because he heads the parliamentary majority, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said he hoped "both sides would "resolve the impasse quickly."

Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, tried since June to form a government, but disputes over top ministry positions thwarted his efforts.

He eventually named his own Cabinet choices, a move Hezbollah,a Shiite Islamic political and paramilitary organization, and its allies denounced.