Lebanese leaders are close to a deal on the formation of a national unity government as stipulated in an agreement that ended the country's political crisis, sources said today.
They said the new government, in which Hizbullah and its allies would have a blocking minority, could be announced as early as today.
Lebanon's US-backed majority coalition and the opposition, led by the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbullah, signed a Qatari-brokered deal in Doha on May 21st that pulled the country back from the brink of a new civil war.
President Michel Suleiman was elected four days later in line with the deal, but squabbling over cabinet portfolios has held up the formation of a government.
The sources from both sides said the breakthrough in the government came after a series of contacts by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani with rival leaders.
The new government, led by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, would have two Hizbullah ministers in addition to nine ministers from its Shia Muslim, Druze and Christian allies.
The ruling coalition would have 16 ministers while the remaining three ministers in the 30-member cabinet would be picked by the the president, the sources said. Personalities close to Suleiman would be assigned the key defence and interior portfolios.
The main task of the cabinet would be to ease political and sectarian tensions that had led to bouts of deadly violence, adopt an election law already agreed in Doha, and supervise next year's parliamentary election.