Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Thursday dismissed Hizbullah threats and said he would seek to form a new government in talks next week. "They came back to (mediators) with only one demand: it is not acceptable that Saad al Hariri return to (lead) the government," he said in a speech in front of his supporters.
"They have put aside all solutions and demanded Saad al Hariri be excluded ... we will go to constitutional talks on Monday with me as a candidate," he added.
Earlier, Hizbullah and its allies, who brought down the government last week after he rejected their demands to repudiate a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 killing of his father, said they would not back him for next government. "We have said Hariri should not come back, and yes he should not come back," said Michel Aoun, a Christian leader allied to Hizbullah.
