US to judge Lebanon government 'by its actions'

[The Northerner]

WASHINGTON — The United States said on Monday it would judge the new Lebanese government "by its actions" following the announcement of a 30-member cabinet dominated by the militant Hezbollah and its allies.

"We'll judge it by its actions," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"What's important in our mind is that the new Lebanese government abides by the Lebanese constitution, that it renounces violence, including efforts to exact retribution against former government officials, and lives up to all its international obligations," he said.

He also urged the new government to support the UN tribunal investigating the assassination of then-prime minister Rafiq Hariri in a 2005 bombing widely blamed on the Shiite Hezbollah's main backer Syria.

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[notesdev]

1. ...while hoping

that the US government is not so similarly judged