leader General Michel Aoun, who has been calling his demands for specific portfolios in the new cabinet “his right”.

Hariri announced yesterday that he will make a "reasonable offer" within the coming days to form a national unity government with "those who need each other and without allowing any side to monopolize decision-making." Again he was referring to Aoun who is insisting on having the lion’s share of the cabinet despite the fact that he was considered the biggest loser last elections

"I will take several steps within the coming few days to announce a Cabinet lineup through a reasonable proposal," Hariri said

Hariri also said that the other camp [the minority] has the right to present its demands as long as they are “realistic,” and added: "We have extended our hand to them so that they will be with us in building the state and face all the challenges."

Hariri highlighted at the Iftar his strong relations with Kataeb leader Amin Gemayel , Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and in particular he stressed his strong relations with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt whom he described as his “brother.”
Following the Iftar he met individually with each of the above leaders at his home in .

Yesterday afternoon Hariri received caretaker Minister of communications Gebran Bassil , who left without making any statement to the press. But later in the evening Bassil criticized Hariri when he said: “Discussions with Hariri just like windmills do not produce any results”

General Aoun is insisting on including Bassil, his son- in-law in the new cabinet despite the fact that he lost in the last elections.

Aoun came under another attack yesterday . Mount Lebanon Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Ali Jouzou criticized Aoun, describing him as an enemy of the Maronite church, the President, the media and the Sunnis in Lebanon.

"Here is Aoun who is hostile to himself if he doesn't find someone to antagonize," Jouzou said in a statement issued on Sunday.

"Here is Aoun, the enemy of the Maronite church, the enemy of the President, the enemy of the media, and most of all an enemy to Sunnis in Lebanon," Jouzou added.

Jouzou accused Aoun of blackmail and of trying to torpedo the formation of a national unity government "by any means possible."

"He (Aoun) wants to impose his son-in-law and relatives on the Cabinet … and sacrifice the nation for the sake of his family," Jouzou went on to say.

The FPM issued a statement in response to Jouzou’s attacks : "Either he willingly stops this campaign and apologizes, or let the religious leadership or his political authority under Sheik Saad Hariri, whom we blame for what is happening, put an end to it."

Monday

10:45pm OTV: the opposition is meeting at Gebran Bassil's house to discuss its response to the cabinet line-up that was proposed by Hariri

10:00pm The Saudi ambassador returned to Lebanon

9:30pm Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri said that he presented the cabinet line-up to President Michel Sleiman “out of responsibility for the Lebanese people,” adding, “we have lost 70 days, time during which we could have implemented many projects,” and stressing that Suleiman has “the constitutional right to either accept or reject the cabinet line-up.”

8:00pm LBC TV : Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri voiced “discomfort” over the way the cabinet line-up was presented to President Michel Suleiman. His sources pointed out the opposition will meet after Hezbollah speech to respond to the cabinet line-up

7:50pm Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt told Al-Manar TV that he was satisfied with the cabinet formula proposed by PM-designate Saad Hariri

7:40pm Almanar based on majority sources: The cabinet line-up gives FPM The ministries of Education, labor and industry and names Gebran Bassil as minister of state without portfolio
7:00pm Change and Reform bloc issued a statement in which it stated that it “refused Hariri’s step in both its form and its content,” and also called for all ministers that were proposed for participation in the upcoming cabinet to announce their immediate rejection of its line-up.

5:50pm Al-Mada Radio station: Aoun calls for immediate resignation of FPM ministers from any Hariri cabinet. He stressed his belief that President Michel Suleiman would not sign the government decree however stated, “We find it necessary we make our position clear to the FPM partisans and politicians.”

5:40 pm Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun calls for immediate resignation of all ministers representing the FPM in any cabinet proposed by PM-designate Saad Hariri upon presidential decree

3:00 pm Hariri proposes cabinet line-up of 30-ministers based on the 15-10-5 division and including all parliamentary blocs," he told reporters after meeting with President Michel Suleiman.

3:23pm PM-designate Saad Hariri tells reporters prior to meeting with President Michel Suleiman he is going to present the cabinet proposal

02:12pm NNA: four unidentified bodies were found in the As-Shami River in Ikleem al-Kharoub. The tcause of death remains unknown.

02:10 pm President Michel Suleiman meets with PM-designate Saad Hariri at the Beiteddine summer presidential palace

2:00pm March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soueid: Kataeb representatives to participate in March 14 General Secretariat meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

12:55pm Bassil informs Speaker Berri of smear campaigns against FPM, and said “the opposition is unified and aware of the plot against it.”

10:50 Houri: Hariri’s new cabinet proposal supports national unity, partnership

10:30 Ahmadinejad: Iran ready for “fair and logical” talks with world powers. "We have proposed a dialogue within a fair and logical framework with all the countries... which can be involved in changing matters," Ahmadinejad said.

10:30 VOL: Christoph Hozjenn, External Security Adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, canceled his trip to Lebanon which was scheduled to start today, after he was asked to travel to Afghanistan.

10:20 An-Nahar newspaper : Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel emphasized the necessity of “reforming the Lebanese system, since the situation is in need of a drastic solution.”

10:15 Education Minister Bahia Hariri said there is no fear for the school year and that measures have been taken to curb the spread of swine flu.

10:10 Caretaker Telecoms Minister Gebran Bassil told As Safir following his yesterday’s meeting with Hariri: “ Hariri wants to form a government by means of pressure and blackmail all the way to threats of civil war. " March 14 majority has been accusing Bassil's father-in-law of blackmail

10:00 Kuwaiti newspaper al Rai said the majority in Lebanon believes that the opposition is sticking with Aoun because of a secret word from a regional power that wants to dominate the position of the opposition

09:30 Free Lebanon radio: three persons were injured in a fight that broke out between Lebanon First bloc MP Ziad al-Qaderi supporters and former MP Abdel Rahim Mrad followers in Al-Bireh village in Rashaya on Sunday night.

09:28 Al Dar Kuwaiti newspaper : Jumblatt will be visiting Cairo soon to meet with the Egyptian leadership

09:02 caretaker Minister Mario Aoun: FPM is sticking to its demand for 5 ministries in the new cabinet the circumstances are not ripe yet for a Jumblatt -Aoun meeting

7:36 March 14 coordinator Fares Soueid: The PM-designate will present a Cabinet lineup based on the 15-10-5 formula and taking into account the realities created by the elections without the exclusion of any (political) team. The President should go to New York after a new government had been announced.

7:30 Former MP Mustafa Alloush told VOL: Hariri will be very careful and will not present a Cabinet lineup that would be rejected by the President. Hariri is exercising his rights and duties.

5:55 Hariri told Hezbollah’s Hussein Khalil : I did what you recommended and met with Aoun but reached a dead end . Why don’t you pressure him to facilitate the formation of the government .

Sunday

10:12pm Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri meets with PSP leader MP Walid Jumblatt in Qoreitem.

9:31pm Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri meets Kataeb leader Amin Gemayel in Qoreitem to discuss cabinet formation.

8:40 pm Former Prime Minister Omar Karami , a key member of the opposition , described Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri during an Iftar as “promising, responsible and willing to sacrifice,” adding that he is the only leader qualified to form a cabinet because of his large support base

8:30 pm CNN : Nine people were killed and 983 rescued when a ferry capsized Sunday in the Philippines, leaving crews scouring the waters for survivors, officials said.

8:01pm "LBC": Hariri, brought up the issue of portfolio rotation during his consultations today with the Minister Gebran Bassil

8:00pm Basil: the discussions with Hariri just like windmills do not produce any results

7:37pm Houry: the PM -designate will at the appropriate time and that is not in the too distant future, will exercise his constitutional authority and issue a decree on government formation

7:36pm al Manar : MP Hussein Khalil urged the president to complete his efforts that began and led to the Hariri and Aoun meeting

7:18pm MP Michel Aoun: No one can form the government in a moody fashion and has to be respectful of norms and standards

6:43pm FPM in response to Juzou’s statement : we won’t allow him or anyone else like him to take advantage of his religious position in undermining the dignity of the people and in distorting facts and spreading Fabrications and rumors

5:55pm Pakradonian said after meeting with Hariri’s in Center house : The PM designate started a new round of consultations and will submit a preliminary cabinet line up to the president

5:30pm Telecommunications Minister Gebran Bassil met PM-designate Saad Hariri at Center House in downtown Beirut for more than 1 hour and left without making any statement. Harir is also meeting Pakradonian