BEIRUT,  (Reuters)  By Maha El Dahan and Laila Bassam - Lebanon's parliament voted on Tuesday to hold legislative elections on March 27, giving Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government only a few months to try to secure an IMF recovery plan amid a deepening economic meltdown. Lebanon's financial crisis, which the World Bank labelled one of the deepest depressions of modern history, had been compounded by political deadlock for over a year before Mikati put together a cabinet alongside President Michel Aoun. The currency has lost 90% of its value and three-quarters of the population have been propelled into poverty. Shortages of basic goods such as fuel and medicines have made daily life a struggle. Mikati, whose cabinet is focused on reviving talks with the International Monetary Fund, had vowed to make sure elections are held with no delay and Western governments urged the same.

After a meeting with an executive director at the IMF on Tuesday, Mikati said his government had compiled necessary financial data for the fund. "We hope to complete a cooperation programme before the end of this year," Mikati was quoted in a statement by his office as saying after a meeting with the IMF's Mahmoud Mohieldin in Beirut. But a row over the probe into last year's Beirut port blast that killed over 200 people and destroyed large swathes of the capital is threatening to veer his cabinet off course. Some ministers, aligned with politicians that lead investigator Judge Tarek Bitar is seeking to question over the explosion, last week demanded that the judge be removed from the probe. Mikati has since said the cabinet will not convene another meeting until an agreement is reached on how to deal with the crisis.

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BEIRUT by Tom Perry; Editing by Giles Elgood (Reuters) - Worsening sectarian tensions in Lebanon are testing an alliance between Shi'ite Hezbollah and its Christian ally President Michel Aoun, who may lose ground to their rivals as they step up opposition to the Iran-backed group's influence. Analysts believe divisions that have deepened since an outbreak of violence in Beirut last week may play to the political advantage of Aoun's long-time Christian adversary, Samir Geagea, a Hezbollah opponent with close Saudi ties. The alliance between the heavily armed Hezbollah and Aoun has been a defining feature of Lebanese politics since 2006: Hezbollah helped Aoun become president in 2016, while Aoun has provided important Christian backing for the armed status of the group, which is more powerful than the Lebanese army. But strains have been growing, specifically over Hezbollah's opposition to the investigation into who was to blame for last year's catastrophic explosion at the Beirut port, which, while killing many Muslims, did most of its damage in Christian parts of the city.

The dilemma facing Aoun sharpened last week when tensions over the investigation ignited Beirut's deadliest street violence in years, reviving memories of the 1975-90 civil war. All of the seven dead were Shi'ites, killed in what Hezbollah has called an ambush by the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party led by Geagea. The LF denies this and blames the other side for provoking trouble by sending supporters into the Christian neighbourhood of Ain al-Remmaneh where it says four residents were wounded before a shot was fired. The violence began as supporters of Hezbollah and its Shi'ite ally, Amal, began gathering for a protest to demand the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar, who is investigating the blast that killed more than 200 people. "Today, you have Christians rejecting these scenes of getting back to civil war memories, and at the same time not happy with the way Shia are expressing their opposition to the Judge Bitar process," said a source familiar with thinking in the Free Patriotic Movement, the party founded by Aoun.

The FPM and Hezbollah had not decided to part ways, but the course of events was separating them, the source said. FPM officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In his first speech since the violence, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the Lebanese Forces saw itself as the protector of Christian blood but Hezbollah was no enemy of Christians. read more Nasrallah said the LF had opposed his party's understanding with the FPM when it was concluded in 2006 because it did not want Christians and Muslims "to open up to each other". There was no immediate LF response to Nasrallah's remarks.

BEIRUT,  (Reuters) - Lebanon's top Christian cleric, Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, said on Sunday that the judiciary should be free of political interference and sectarian "activism" amid tensions over a probe into last year's blast at Beirut port. The Maronite patriarch also said it was unacceptable for anyone to resort to threats or violence. In Lebanon's worst street violence in over a decade, seven people were shot dead last week as protesters headed to a rally opposing the inquiry. "We must free the judiciary from political interference, sectarian and partisan political activism and respect its independence according to the principle of separation of powers," he said in his sermon. Rai has an influential role as leader of the biggest Christian community in Lebanon, where political power is divided between the main Christian, Muslim and Druze sects.

The inquiry into the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion, which killed more than 200 people and devastated swathes of Beirut, has made little headway amid pushback from political factions. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has called Judge Tarek Bitar -- the lead investigator -- biased and politicised. read more "The rise in doubts over the (integrity of the) judiciary that has been going for a while has not only undermined the judiciary but also the reputation of Lebanon," said Rai. Seven Shi'ite Muslims were shot dead on Thursday as crowds headed for a protest against Bitar called by the Iranian-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah group and its Shi'ite ally Amal. The violence added to fears for the stability of a country that is awash with weapons and suffering an economic meltdown. "What happened last week reminds the Lebanese of the start of the cursed civil war and they are not ready to relive it again," Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi said in a Sunday sermon, local media reported.