Saad Hariri announced on Thursday that he was stepping down as Lebanon's prime minister-designate, accusing the Hezbollah-led opposition of blocking weeks of efforts to unlock a political stalemate.

"Given that my commitment to forming a government of national unity has run up against difficulties that everyone now knows about, I announce that I have informed the president of the republic that I have abandoned trying to form a government," he told journalists in Beirut.

"I worked for 73 days to achieve this objective but each time the rounds of negotiations were hampered one way or another," added Hariri, saying the team he had proposed was "frittered away through conditions imposed" by the minority.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a statement expressed "regret" over the failure to form a new government, while Qatar which brokered a reconciliation accord between Lebanon's political factions in May 2008 offered to host a new conference.

"We hope that the Lebanese will find a solution but we are ready to help them if that becomes necessary," Qatari Prime and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani said after talks in Paris.

"In Lebanon, everything must be done by consensus," he said.

Hariri and his allies won a healthy majority of 71 seats in the 128-member parliament in the June election, while the Hezbollah camp clinched 57.

"I hope that this decision will be in the interests of Lebanon and will permit a relaunch of dialogue," he added.

The announcement comes after more than two months of fruitless efforts. The rejection of Hariri's proposed team sparked fears of a new political crisis in a country where bickering led to deadly fighting only last year.

On Monday, Hariri proposed a 30-seat coalition cabinet to President Michel Sleiman but Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah quickly accused him of proposing a line-up that would only complicate the situation.

"I do not believe this way of doing things will lift Lebanon from the crisis over the formation of the new government," Nasrallah said. "It will make the problem more complicated."

Hezbollah accused Hariri of trying to impose a "de facto government" contrary to the spirit of a national unity cabinet.

Hariri, the son of assassinated ex-premier Rafiq Hariri and head of the Western-backed parliamentary majority, was named premier on 27 June.

Tough negotiations led to a deal on the number of ministers each political camp would have in the cabinet, with 15 going to Hariri's alliance, 10 to its opponents and the president appointing the remaining five.

However, the various factions have been unable to agree on just who gets what ministries.

Without naming names, Hariri said on Thursday "it seemed to me that certain people had no intention of moving forward or of leaving behind this opposition to change by wanting to impose extravagant conditions."

A ruling alliance source told AFP earlier this week that the proposal failed to meet the demands of Michel Aoun, Hezbollah's key Christian ally.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Aoun — who holds 27 of the Hezbollah-led group's 57 seats — had made a number of demands the Hariri faction was unwilling to accept.

One was for Aoun's son-in-law, Telecommunications Minister Gebran Bassil, to get a post in the next cabinet.

Hariri threw in the towel "because he proved incapable of former a real unity government," Bassil told AFP on Thursday. "Nobody can marginalise important political parties, and Lebanon can only function as a partnership."

In the end, pro-opposition newspapers called on Hariri to step down, with As-Safir saying his naming of ministers on behalf of the opposition was a step too far.

But some newspapers and analysts said Hariri could be asked to return after a fresh round of consultations between Sleiman and MPs.

A political crisis erupted in 2006 after all Shiite ministers resigned from the cabinet. It degenerated in May 2008 when sectarian fighting broke out in Beirut, in the worst bloodshed since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The crisis was resolved the same month when Qatar brokered a deal for the formation of a national unity government.

AFP

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