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| 05/07/2008 Prime Minister-Designate Fouad Saniora said on Saturday he was confident that a national unity government for Lebanon would be announced soon, but dismissed reports that it was imminent.
"The clock has started ticking for the formation of a government," Saniora told reporters after talks with the head of Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun.
"The formation of a government continues and I am confident that in the near future we will reach" a line-up, he added.
Asked if the new government would be announced on Saturday, the premier replied: "Not today."
Youth and Sports Minister in the caretaker government Ahmed Fatfat earlier said that a government would be announced within hours. "The announcement of a national unity government will very probably take place today," Fatfat noted.
For his part, Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa expressed hope that a government in Lebanon would be born "in hours." Moussa, in a statement, said he received and made "intensified calls with Lebanese and Arab sides and they all confirmed that real progress has been achieved" towards forming the new cabinet.
Meanwhile, well informed sources told Al-Manar that an agreement has been reached on the formation of a new cabinet and that announcing it could be Saturday. According to the sources, the agreement was made on all outstanding issues pertaining to the formation of the government after the head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP General Michel Aoun approved a formula proposed to him by PM designate Fouad Saniora.
The same sources pointed out that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had played a major role in achieving the agreement, as he cut his visit to Canada and returned Friday to Beirut. Upon his arrival, Berri received a telephone call from the Qatari Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jassem Al-Thani. The Speaker also contacted both President Michel Suleiman and Saniora.
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