Lebanon's Environment Minister Yaacub Sarraf, who is close to President Emile Lahoud, announced his resignation on Monday, becoming the sixth government member to quit.
Sarraf, a Christian, joins five Shiite ministers who quit Saturday Premier Fuad Saniora's cabinet. Lebanon's National News Agency reported Sarraf submitted his resignation in a letter to Saniora.
"I don't see myself belonging to any constitutional authority in which an entire sect is absent," Sarraf said in his letter, according to the agency. "So I am tendering my resignation from your government."
According to the AP, Sarraf's resignation came as the cabinet planned to meet despite an announcement by Lahoud that the government lost its legitimacy after the resignations of the Hizbullah and Amal ministers.
Saniora swiftly rejected Sarraf's resignation as he did with the other five. However, on Monday, Hizbullah's two ministers made their resignations official by presenting them in writing to the cabinet secretary.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese government on Monday approved a U.N. draft setting up an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. "We unanimously approved the draft," Saniora told a news conference after a three-hour meeting.
"We tell the criminals that we will not give up our rights, no matter what the difficulties and obstacles are," he said. "Our only aim is to achieve justice and only justice. Without it and without knowing the truth, the Lebanese will not rest and we cannot protect our democratic system and political freedom now and in the future."
