Lebanon's Prime Minister-Designate Fouad Saniora said on Saturday he was confident that a national unity government 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."
,eanwhile, Lebanon's 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 voiced 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.
In a related development, sources told Hizbullah's TV channel Al-Manar that an agreement has been reached on the formation of a new cabinet. According to the sources, the agreement was made on all outstanding issues pertaining to the formation of the government after the Aoun approved a formula proposed to him by Saniora.
