Lebanon Appoints First Ever Ambassador to Syria
Lebanon on Saturday appointed its first ever ambassador to Syria, Information Minister Tareq Mitri said.
"The Cabinet appointed an ambassador to Syria," Mitri said following the Cabinet meeting that was held at Baabda Palace under President Michel Suleiman.
Mitri, however, withheld the ambassador”s name pending Syria”s approval in line with diplomatic norms.
On the issue of concluding the second round of the Constitutional Council elections, Mitri said that the Cabinet will hold another meeting in this respect.
Cabinet, though, appointed Judge Shukri Sader as head of the State Consultative Council and Ghaleb Ghanem as head of the Higher Judiciary Council, Mitri said.
He said the Cabinet unanimously condemned the Gaza siege and called for Arab unity.
Mitri said Suleiman stressed the need to speed up approval of the 2009 state budget.
The Cabinet, according to Mitri, tasked Prime Minister Fouad Saniora to consult with the concerned ministers to find the funding needed to pay the remaining compensations for those whose houses were destroyed in the July (2006) war.