Karami Attacks Miqati: Centrism is Wishy-Washy, Gets No High Regard

Former Premier Omar Karami on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati and ridiculed him for being a centrist.

"Centrism has no color or taste," Karami told Miqati in an interview with Al-Jadid television channel.

Centrism, he added, "gets no high regard."

Karami ruled out Miqati would step down, saying the business tycoon worked hard to attain this position.

Miqati "had sore feet from traveling from one country to another to reach the premiership," he charged.

Karami criticized Miqati for attending a meeting on Thursday of Sunni leaders hosted by Lebanon's Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani.

He said he did not attend Dar al-Fatwa meeting because Sheikh Qabbani is accused of corruption.

Dar al-Fatwa on Thursday cautioned Miqati against abandoning cooperation with the international tribunal investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon is widely expected to accuse Hizbullah members of involvement in the 2005 killing. Hizbullah and its allies resigned from the previous government after then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri — Rafik Hariri's son — refused to condemn the tribunal.

Hizbullah is seeking to stop the STL after its favored candidate, Miqati, was named Lebanon's new prime minister.

Participants at Dar al-Fatwa's rare meeting warned that such a decision would have negative consequences.