PARIS/JEDDAH, 29 October 2004 — Although it includes a number of Francophile as well as pro-American figures, Lebanon’s new Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Omar Karameh, has already received the cold shoulder from both Paris and Washington.

“We have taken note of the formation of this new organ,” a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry in Paris said yesterday. “But there are no plans for any substantive contacts with the team in question.”

In Washington, Richard Boucher, the State Department spokesman, was even more precise. “The new Lebanese Cabinet is a Syrian creation,” he said.

“Its imposition is another sign that Syria is not prepared to cooperate with the United Nations’ Security Council.”

Karameh, who hails from an old pro-Syrian political family based in the northern city of Tripoli, replaced Rafik Hariri, a businessman-cum-politician who resigned last week, after holding the post for most of the last 15 years.

Hariri had opposed a Syrian-backed constitutional amendment allowing President Emile Lahoud to remain in office for another three years.

As expected, in Karameh’s Cabinet, keys posts have gone to pro-Syrian figures, and two women enter government for the first time. Suleiman Frangieh, scion of an old pro-Syrian Christian family, was appointed interior minister, and the defense and foreign affairs portfolios went to pro-Syrian allies Abdul Rahim Mrad and Mahmoud Hammoud, respectively.

Economist and former government minister Elias Saba, named finance minister, is regarded as acceptable to both the US and France as are Layla Solh, daughter of former Prime Minister Riad Solh, named minister of industry and Wafaa Hamza, who was appointed a minister of state. But all three are regarded as “decorative members” of the Cabinet with little real influence.

Karameh’s Cabinet will only last until May 2005 when parliamentary elections are scheduled, after which anew government will be formed.

The Parliament is to vote on the new Cabinet to approve its members and its program. The new government will have to face some tough diplomatic and economic issues facing the country.

One urgent issue is Lebanon’s foreign debt , amounting to more than $40 billion, making it the most indebted nation on earth relative to its population.

Last year, French President Jacques Chirac orchestrated an international rescue plan to provide $4billion in emergency funds to service the Lebanese debt . But if both France and US are to effectively boycott the new government it is not clear Karameh and his ministers would have access to those funds.

Lebanon has been in political turmoil since controversial moves to extend the President Lahoud’s term in office. Parliament approved a constitutional amendment to extend Lahoud’s period in office as a result of what was widely seen as Syrian pressure.