Lebanses President Emie Lahoud set about today to form a new government while opposition leaders – Muslim, Druze and Christian – are expected to meet Tuesday to plan for what comes next:

It wasn’t clear if they would seek to keep up the street pressure or – as some have urged – step back to work through the political process to ensure a new government less tied to Damascus.

They have demanded a neutral government to organize parliamentary elections this spring and to investigate Hariri’s murder, which they blame on the pro-Syrian government and Syria. Both governments have denied involvement.

The dramatic developments – reminiscent of Ukraine’s peaceful “Orange Revolution” and broadcast live across the Arab world, including Syria where some people have access to satellite TV – could provoke a strong response from Syria. There are fears it also could plunge this nation of 3.5 million back into a period of uncertainty, political vacuum or worse.

There seems to be tension between those who would like to emulate Ukraine and a more cautious approach that favors working within the present governmental context. For now, the process is set:

The task of forming a new government begins Tuesday. Lahoud accepted Karami’s resignation on Monday and asked him to continue as a caretaker.

A date hasn’t been set for Lahoud to begin parliamentary consultations to designate a prime minister, but his spokesman, Rafik Shalala, said the debate was expected to begin within two days and last a day. The president was to receive Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker, later Tuesday, the start of the process.

Then, the president will announce he will begin polling deputies. A decree to appoint a prime minister will be followed by consultations between the premier-designate and parliamentary blocs before naming a Cabinet. That process could take days or weeks. Parliament must sign on with a confidence vote in the Cabinet based on its policy statement.

Meanwhile, Rafaat Assad, Bashir Assad’s uncle has called for Syria to pullout and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi cautioned Lebanon not to “fall into the trap of foreigners” by which he means Americans and Israelis:

US policy is to “guarantee the interests and security of Israel and secure the occupation of Arab lands” by the Jewish state, Kamal Kharazi was quoted as saying.

“The policy of the United States … is to destroy the unity of the people and their pride at having expelled the Israeli occupiers,” he said.

That didn’t take long. I knew that we could count on Iran to come out with the usual “it’s America’s/Israel’s fault” meme. The Daily Star has a day-by-day accounting of the last two weeks leading up to yesterday’s events. Seems to me as if the Lebanese have done this all pretty much on their own. But there is no denying that what is happening in the Middle East is a result of the policies and practices of the United States. Even the president’s critics are starting to take notice:

Still, this has so far been a year of heartening surprises – each one remarkable in itself, and taken together truly astonishing. The Bush administration is entitled to claim a healthy share of the credit for many of these advances. It boldly proclaimed the cause of Middle East democracy at a time when few in the West thought it had any realistic chance. And for all the negative consequences that flowed from the American invasion of Iraq, there could have been no democratic elections there this January if Saddam Hussein had still been in power. Washington’s challenge now lies in finding ways to nurture and encourage these still fragile trends without smothering them in a triumphalist embrace.

Lebanon’s political reawakening took a significant new turn yesterday when popular protests brought down the pro-Syrian government of Prime Minister Omar Karami. Syria’s occupation of Lebanon, nearly three decades long, started tottering after the Feb. 14 assassination of the country’s leading independent politician, the former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

That, boys and girls, comes from the New York Times.