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Lebanon's president has asked Saad al-Hariri to stay on as a caretaker prime minister after his government was toppled by Hezbollah and its allies.
The crisis was sparked by a dispute over the UN tribunal investigating ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's murder.
President Michel Suleiman has started consultations over the choice of a new premier, with Hariri due to return to Beirut from a visit to France.
The Arab League appealed for calm over Lebanon's "tense" security situation.
Many Lebanese want to know who killed Rafik Hariri, but fear the quest for justice could lead to conflict on the streets, says the BBC's Owen Bennett Jones in Beirut.
Caught off guard
Lebanon's political parties are now trying to form a new governing coalition, after the resignation on Wednesday of 11 ministers from Hezbollah and its allies, which brought down the Hariri-led administration.
They said the prime minister had rejected their demands for an urgent cabinet session to discuss withdrawing all cooperation with the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and denouncing any indictments.
Hariri was in Washington for a meeting with President Barack Obama when his ministers made their move.
He then moved on to Paris for a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but has not publicly commented on developments.
PHOTO CAPTION
Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is pictured in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, January 12, 2011.
Agencies
