and make challenges "as if they became a majority that has the cabinet formation responsibility."
The sources expressed fears that such optimism was aimed at putting pressure on the March 14 majority alliance to make more concessions.
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri will be meeting Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun for the second time for consultations regarding government formation . The expected meeting is of significant importance, particularly a day after Aoun told OTV that he was personally seeking to reach a solution on the cabinet "because the purpose is for all of us to participate in governing (the country) as part of a reform program."
Aoun who has refused in the past to accept state ministries told OTV yesterday that he is willing to accept four state ministries ( without portfolio ) if given the ministry of finance.
Thursday
3:10pm Baabda sources told LBC: President Suleiman might join Saudi King Abdullah and President Bashar Assad during their meeting in Damascus.
3:04pm "LBC" sources of "change and reform": In the third round of consultations Hariri and Aoun will meet privately without the participation of the FFM Mps
2:50 pm IMF raised next year's growth estimate for the ME region to 4.2 percent from a July forecast of 3.7 percent. It maintained this year's projection at 2 percent.
2:42pm judge Sawan questioned Ali Nayef the prisoner that escaped from Roumieh prison and arrested Essam Daher for helping Nayef escape
2:38pm Speaker Berri discussed with the Commissioner-General and the Director-General of UNRWA improving the conditions of the Palestinian refugee camps and the reconstruction Nahr el Bared camp
14:35 Jumblatt after meeting US ambassador Sison : Who said the Lebanese government is formed only in Lebanon ?
2:27pm MP Fatfat said in an interview fwith al Rai that will be published tomorrow: If things were optimistic there would be no need to wait for two weeks to form government
2:25pm A sitin by the Armenian Tashnag party in Burj Hammoud, to protest against the terms of the agreement to be signed between Armenia and Turkey
2:05pm Hariri: National responsibility compels us to find a way out of crises. I discussed with blocs political, security, economic and social challenges facing Lebanon. I will give priority to a national consensus cabinet, but all possibilities are open in case we reach a dead end. I remain optimistic with regards to formation of a government of national unity , but most important of all is to make this country a country that every Lebanese drams of
1:47pm MP Antoine Zahra: We reiterate our demands for Hariri and Suleiman to form a constitutional cabinet as soon as possible. If some have reservations on their participation, the country cannot wait for them.
1:30pm Hariri is meeting with the LF bloc.
1:20pm Aoun: Today we continued talks that we had started last week. Hopefully we will soon tackle the cabinet lineup phase.
1;00pm The quake, which hit Wednesday evening just off the Indonesian city of Padang with a magnitude of 7.6, has killed at least 529 people, according to a statement from the Social Affairs Ministry.
12:56pm MP Ali al-Meqdad told al-Manar: We are with the 15-10-5 formula. Hariri doesn’t have the right to impose names that don’t represent anyone.
12:45pm Caretaker PM Fouad Siniora met with U.S. Ambassador Michele Sison at the Grand Serail.
12;45 pm: Welfare workers say they are tracking the whereabouts of potentially hundreds of children who lost their parents in devastating weekend floods that submerged most of the Philippine capital.
12;30pm CNN: Another earthquake struck Wednesday near the Samoan islands, an area already devastated by earthquake and tsunami damage which killed more than 130 people.
12:25 FPM MP Abi Ramia says his bloc might discuss portfolios with Hariri, but not candidates
12:15pm PM-designate Saad Hariri is meeting with the Change and Reform Bloc headed by MP Michel Aoun.
12:13pm MP Khaled Zahraman called for an emergency services plan for all Akkar towns.
11:58 Israel calls talks with Iran as “waste of time”
11:20 The negotiations in Geneva involve Iran and six other countries. US officials expect 'an extraordinarily difficult process' but may speak directly with Iran's representatives.
11:16 Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir met with Minister Tammam Salam. Brazil’s new ambassador also visited Sfeir.
11:11 Minister Elie Marouni traveled to Kazakhstan to participate in a tourism conference.
8:30am MP Boutros Harb told VOL: Cabinet formation has become almost impossible without foreign intervention.
Wednesday
10:10pm Aoun: I want four Maronite and one Armenian orthodox ministers. I accept the Finance ministry to be handled by four state ministers although they did not mention that in their newspapers when I suggested it.
9:07pm More than 1,000 feared dead in major Indonesian quake
8:15pm President Suleiman met King Abdullah’s special envoy, Emir Abdelaziz Ben Fahd who conveyed to him the King’s wishes for the formation of a new cabinet able to fulfill its tasks.
7:58pm Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri concludes cabinet consultations
