State Budget Stumbles
The cabinet announced on Friday that it would finalize the state budget in 10 days pending "further consultations" regarding allocations for the Council for the South.
Information Minister Tareq Mitri also quoted President Michel Suleiman, who presided over the session at the Baabda Palace, as saying the controversial issue of tabbing telephone communications would be listed on the agenda of a forthcoming cabinet session, the schedule for which has not been set.
Suleiman and Premier Fouad Saniora, according to Mitri, praised Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan for withdrawing from the World Economic Forum in Davos in protest against remarks by Israeli President Shimon Peres on the Gaza war.