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16 January 2011
Last updated at 16:49 ET
The leader of the militant organisation Hezbollah says his group and its allies will not back caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in forming a government.
Hassan Nasrallah was making his first public comments since the Lebanese government collapsed last week.
Talks on forming a government are expected to start on Monday.
Mr Nasrallah also said Hezbollah would defend itself against any indictments by a UN tribunal over the killing of Rafiq Hariri.
"The opposition unanimously will not name Hariri tomorrow," Mr Nasrallah said in a televised address.
He did not say who Hezbollah would support.
Mr Hariri's government fell over a dispute about how to respond if, as expected, a UN tribunal accuses Hezbollah members of being behind the murder in 2005 of his father, Rafiq Hariri, who was prime minister at the time.
Hezbollah - the powerful Shia social, political and militant group - had asked the government to disassociate itself from the tribunal and to state it would not arrest those it indicted.
When agreement proved impossible, Mr Nasrallah said on Sunday, Hezbollah decided to bring down the government using democratic means and had not taken to the streets.
'Mobile phone evidence' After the government collapsed, President Michel Suleiman asked Mr Hariri to stay on as a caretaker prime minister.
The BBC's Owen Bennett Jones reports from Beirut that UN sources have confirmed rumours that the tribunal will soon be handing over indictments and supporting documentation to a pre-trial judge.
The judge will then take an estimated six to ten weeks to decide whether the accused should face trial.
The names of those indicted will remain secret, but press leaks suggest they will include members of Hezbollah, who came under suspicion because of mobile phone evidence, our correspondent says.
Rafiq Hariri and 22 others were killed in February 2005 when a huge bomb exploded next to his motorcade in Beirut.
Syria was initially blamed for the assassination, and eventually forced in its wake to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after 29 years. In the past year, however, members of Hezbollah have emerged as prime suspects.
On Sunday, Mr Narsrallah repeated his claim that Rafiq Hariri's murder was carried out by Israel.
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Hassan Nasrallah was making his first public comments since the Lebanese government collapsed last week.
Talks on forming a government are expected to start on Monday.
Mr Nasrallah also said Hezbollah would defend itself against any indictments by a UN tribunal over the killing of Rafiq Hariri.
"The opposition unanimously will not name Hariri tomorrow," Mr Nasrallah said in a televised address.
He did not say who Hezbollah would support.
Mr Hariri's government fell over a dispute about how to respond if, as expected, a UN tribunal accuses Hezbollah members of being behind the murder in 2005 of his father, Rafiq Hariri, who was prime minister at the time.
Hezbollah - the powerful Shia social, political and militant group - had asked the government to disassociate itself from the tribunal and to state it would not arrest those it indicted.
When agreement proved impossible, Mr Nasrallah said on Sunday, Hezbollah decided to bring down the government using democratic means and had not taken to the streets.
'Mobile phone evidence' After the government collapsed, President Michel Suleiman asked Mr Hariri to stay on as a caretaker prime minister.
The BBC's Owen Bennett Jones reports from Beirut that UN sources have confirmed rumours that the tribunal will soon be handing over indictments and supporting documentation to a pre-trial judge.
The judge will then take an estimated six to ten weeks to decide whether the accused should face trial.
The names of those indicted will remain secret, but press leaks suggest they will include members of Hezbollah, who came under suspicion because of mobile phone evidence, our correspondent says.
Rafiq Hariri and 22 others were killed in February 2005 when a huge bomb exploded next to his motorcade in Beirut.
Syria was initially blamed for the assassination, and eventually forced in its wake to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after 29 years. In the past year, however, members of Hezbollah have emerged as prime suspects.
On Sunday, Mr Narsrallah repeated his claim that Rafiq Hariri's murder was carried out by Israel.
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