Lebanon’s caretaker premier, Saad Hariri, vowed yesterday to fully cooperate in forming a new government amid international efforts to contain a political storm sparked by the collapse of his Cabinet.

“My allies and I will participate in consultations (to name a new premier) and will fully cooperate with the President to form a new government in line with the requirements to maintain national unity,” Mr Hariri said after meeting with President Michel Sleiman.

The Western-backed premier, who returned to Lebanon on Friday from week-long talks in the United States, France and Turkey, said the collapse of his 30-member Cabinet was “unprecedented in the history of Lebanese governments.”

Mr Hariri’s statement came two days after the powerful Iranian-backed Hizbollah and its allies resigned from the Cabinet in a dispute over a UN-backed probe into the 2005 murder of his father, ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

Hizbollah, Lebanon’s most powerful armed faction, for months has been pressuring Mr Hariri to reject the STL, which is reportedly poised to indict high-ranking members of the Iranian-backed party in the Hariri assassination.

The Shiite group has warned of grave repercussions should it be accused of the murder.

Although he did not specifically refer to the tribunal, Mr Hariri yesterday made clear he would not cave in to pressure to reject the court.

He accused Hizbollah of refusing to make concessions while pressing him to “make personal and national sacrifices”.

Mr Hariri said his consultations this week with US, Saudi, French and Turkish officials were aimed at “protecting Lebanon from sliding into the unknown”.

“Some took advantage of the situation to ... put an end to the political truce” brokered by Saudi Arabia and Syria, he said, adding that dialogue was the only way out of the current impasse.

“No one party in Lebanon can rule on its own,” he said.

Mr Sleiman, who declared the government a caretaker Cabinet after Wednesday’s resignations, on Monday is to begin consultations with MPs on appointing a new premier.