Lebanon's opposition, flush with success after forcing the collapse of the pro-Syria government, has intensified appeals to Hizbollah, the Shia Islamist movement, to join its ranks.

Ghazi Aridi, an opposition parliamentarian close to Walid Jumblatt, one of the main opposition leaders, on Wednesday met Hizbollah officials for the first time since the assassination last month of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.