Lebanon's newly-appointed billionaire prime minister Rafiq Hariri ended two days of talks with members of parliament Wednesday on forming a new government, saying that the cabinet will not be announced before Friday.
"I will discuss the consultations with President Emile Lahoud," said Hariri, who was appointed prime minister Monday.
Hariri, who gave no indications on the size or content of his future cabinet, said "the opinions of the MPs are a basic issue and represent the views of the public in the country."
"We consider this a basic and core issue," he insisted, apparently referring to criticism in the country that the cabinet has already been drawn up, with Syrian involvement, and that consultations were mainly for form's sake.
The widespread criticism came after a cabinet line-up supposedly drafted even before Hariri's appointment was leaked to the media a few days ago -- BEIRUT (AFP)
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