Saniora Deletes Aoun
Prime Minister-designate Fouad Saniora said he responds to verbal attacks by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun with a push button "delete" approach.
"Delete," a smiling Saniora told reporters at the Republican palace when asked to comment on a vehement attack launched by Aoun against him the day before.
Saniora also proposed presenting Aoun a copy of the Lebanese constitution so that the latter "can read it to find out that it does not permit" setting a time frame to efforts aimed at forming cabinets as the FPM leader had demanded.
Protests by Aoun and the Hizbullah-led opposition against his style in forming the new cabinet are tantamount to a "typhoon in a cup," Saniora added after talks with President Michel Suleiman.
"The majority has the constitutional right to nominate the premier, and the majority persists with backing me," he said.
"No one has magic solutions. We all should participate in achieving a solution. If we persist with sparking tension we would not reach a settlement," Saniora noted.
He reiterated that the new interior minister should be "neutral" and the defense minister should be trusted by president Suleiman.
If the Hizbullah-led oppositions want either the finance or foreign portfolio "welcome, they can have either of them," Saniora concluded.