Time shown on the left is the local time in Beirut, Lebanon

Lebanon will finally have a president this Sunday

The Qatar deal has averted a civil war and will calm tensions until next year's parliamentary poll, but leaves the country's deep-seated divisions unhealed.

20:29 Siniora: Doha agreement proved beyond any doubt Lebanon's Arabism

19:22 Voice of Lebanon: Phalange leader & former President Amin Gemayel announces his support for Future Movement chief Saad Hariri as next Prime Minister.

16:15 Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir welcomed the Doha accord, and called for swift implementation.

16:13 Future TV (Al Mustaqbal): The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatari PM Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al-Thani, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Italian FM Franco Frattini, French FM Bernard Kouchner and Spanish FM Miguel Angel Moratinos will attend Sunday's presidential elections.

15:39 Major General Suleiman met with the head of the Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff of UNIFIL force, to discuss the general conditions in the country

15:31 Turkey expressed hope that the Doha agreement may be beginning to achieving national reconciliation, stability and progress in Lebanon

15:27 Al-Hurra : Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butrous Sfeir welcomes Doha agreement and adds that he hopes lessons have been learned.

15:16 Italian Foreign Ministry says FM Franco Frattini is to visit Beirut next Sunday for the Lebanese presidential elections.

15:15 MP Elias Skaff: The results of the Doha dialogue make Lebanon the winner.

15:02 LBC: Ministerial sources say Prime Minister Fouad Siniora refuses to lead the new cabinet.

15:00 Phalange Party leader & Former president Amin Gemayel called off a press conference originally scheduled for Friday.

14:50 The Ministry of Education announces the postponement of official examinations from June 16, 2008 to June 23, 2008.

14:45 New TV reported that all tents have been removed from down town Beirut and the barbed wire fence protecting the seat of government also has been removed.

13:50 Finance Minister Jihad Azour said the pay raise is effective immediately and retroactive to May 1, 2008.

13:15 Speaker Nabih Berri schedules the presidential session for Sunday, May 25 at 5:00 p.m.

13:06 Family members filed a lawsuit at the office of the district attorney to the court of appeals in the Bekaa valley for the murder of Nasri Marooni and Salim Aasi. The suit was filed against Joseph Zouqi and Tohmeh Zouki, as well as against anyone else whose relation to the crime is discovered during the investigation. The suit claims that MP Elias Skaff is responsible for harboring and aiding both criminals.

12:43 The media office of MP Michel Aoun, head of the Change and Reform bloc, said that Aoun called Army Commander General Michel Sleiman to express congratulations to him and his family over the presidency. Aoun told Sleiman that he has now been entrusted with [the country].

12:36 The lead investigating magistrate into the events at Nahr al-Bared, Judge Ghassan Oeidat, has released on bail seven people arrested in this regard.

12:24 Finance Minister Jihad Azour, speaking from the ministry's main office in Riad al-Solh Square: The raise in the minimum wage has been valid since the May 1, 2008.

12:15 Voice of Lebanon: Barbed wire and steel barricades are being dismantled from the vicinity of the Grand Serail.

12:00 As Safir expects a meeting to take place very soon between Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and MP Saad Hariri.

11:53 Iranian ambassador to Lebanon calls former President Amin Gemayel and conveys the commitment of his country to the higher benefit of Lebanon.

11:23 MP Assem Araji to ANB: The agreement that was reached in Qatar is acceptable for the time being, especially in light of the circumstances that Lebanon was passing through. The most important achievement in this agreement was that no team won over the other.

11:15 Canada's foreign minister said: The Doha deal paves the way for reconciliation.

11:10 Iran's ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Riza Shibani telephoned Amin Gemayel to assess the Doha agreement.

11:12 Minister Joe Sarkis to NewTV:

11:08 MP Atef Majdalani to ANB:

10:14 The U.N. Security Council will meet today to discuss a French draft plan that supports the Doha deal. UNSC is likely to consider the agreement a step toward putting life back into constitutional institutions.

10:00 Preparations are underway in Parliament and official invitations are expected to be complete within the coming hours.

09:07 Special information obtained by NOW Lebanon: Five women escape from Baabda prison for women.

9:00 Saudi ambassador who left Lebanon following the seizure of Beirut by Hezbollah returned to Beirut early Thursday coming from Riyadh.

8:00 Qatar's Emir will attend Sunday's presidential election where he will address the parliament in a speech.

7:10 Arab League chief Amr Moussa to Asharq al-Awsat: The Doha deal is comprehensive and final. It is not just a truce. We will soon move in order to restore Lebanese-Syrian relations and I will visit Beirut and Damascus next week.

6:45am A U.S. official to Al Hayat daily: What happened in Doha is a "setback for Syria and Iran," mainly for failing to get Gen. Michel Aoun to the presidency.

6:40 Asharq Al Awsat daily: Hariri assured that talks concerning Hezbollah arms will be launched before drafting the ministerial statement and its report on how it would deal with the weapons.

6:35 As Safir daily: Druze leader Walid Jumblatt made his way out of the conflict and put himself in a "neutral" position or rather an indirect go-between in some cases.

6:30 Al-Balad: Former PM Bahij Tabara is among the nominees for the Prime Minister position.

6:10 Al Hayat daily: FPM leader Michel Aoun told MP Saad Hariri after he shook hands with him: "We will open a new page." Hariri replied: "I'm ready."

6:05 Al Akhbar daily: It is likely that consultations on the formation of a new cabinet will begin as soon as the president is elected

Wednesday

22:27 Aoun said had it not been for the military operations by Hezbollah the Arabs wouldn't have moved to help in ending Lebanon crises. Aoun said he plans to continue his relations with Hezbollah . and indicated that the additional five opposition ministers in the new cabinet will be from his FPM. Aoun said all the Lebanese emerged as victorious in Doha

21:41 Hariri said the agreement would heal the wound resulting from what has happened and hopes a new era has begun in Lebanon.

Tags: Breaking News, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Qatar, source: Naharnet, source: Now Lebanon, Ya Libnan