Lebanon's Hariri resumes government talks

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri resumed talks on Monday aimed at agreeing a new coalition government after returning from a holiday that had frozen the discussions for a week.

Hariri left the country last week to take stock of a policy shift by one of his main allies, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who has signaled an end to his membership of the Sunni politician's anti-Syrian alliance.

Hariri's "March 14" alliance, grouping Sunni, Druze and Christian factions, defeated a rival coalition including the powerful Shi'ite group Hezbollah and its Christian allies in a June parliamentary election.

But Jumblatt's shift has redrawn Lebanon's political map and undermined the win, effectively stripping March 14 of an absolute majority in the 128-seat parliament and complicating the talks Hariri was holding on the new cabinet.

Hariri, a billionaire businessman with political backing from Saudi Arabia and the United States, had reached a deal on the distribution of seats in the new cabinet before Jumblatt's announcement.

Hariri held talks by telephone on Monday with President Michel Suleiman and former president Amin Gemayel, one of his main Christian allies, a statement from his office said. He also met outgoing Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, another ally.

Gemayel has called for a review of the seat-sharing arrangement in the light of Jumblatt's shift, which they assume will weaken March 14's say in government.

Hezbollah and its allies in the rival alliance, which has the backing of Syria and Iran, say the arrangement should not be altered. Hariri, who took a family holiday to "think and reflect," has yet to comment.

The change in Jumblatt's position is seen as linked to an end to Syria's isolation by many Western governments and rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Rivalry between the two Arab states has been seen at the heart of four years of turmoil in Lebanon triggered by the 2005 assassination of statesman Rafik al-Hariri, Saad's father.

(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Charles Dick)