Suleiman Hopes Efforts will Conclude Cabinet Deal
President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday expressed hope that intensified efforts by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri would soon produce a Cabinet deal.
"I hope that intense efforts over the past 24 hours would produce a new government on the basis that everyone is aware of the dangers of the continuing delay and take the initiative to make sacrifices in order to re-launch state operations and stop wasting time," Suleiman said following a meeting with a delegation from the U.S. Council for the National Interest headed by former ambassador Jack Matlock.
Matlock said his Beirut visit comes "within a political pilgrimage to the region to closely monitor the situation in the Middle East and convey the facts in detail to the United States in an attempt to look for a more balanced U.S. policy in the region."
Suleiman said the key to boosting Middle East peace is by giving Palestinian refugees their rights, particularly the right of return.
He pointed that Lebanon”s Constitutional institutions have recovered from crises, adding that relations with Syria were moving in the right direction with the exchange of ambassadors and building mutual trust.
Suleiman had earlier Tuesday met with Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. Issam Abu Jamra who briefed him on the latest developments concerning efforts to reach a new government.