Naharnet

Cabinet Convenes Amid Differences on Several Administrative Appointments

The cabinet convened on Wednesday with a loaded agenda that includes the appointment of a director-general for the railway authority and the extension of the mandate of the acting director-general of General Security during a session that is likely to witness a hefty discussion on the recent security incidents in the southern city of Sidon.

Sources ruled out to An Nahar daily any appointment from outside the agenda of the government that will meet at the Grand Serail except for the appointment of Yehya Shakib Khamis and the extension of the term of Brig. Gen. Fouad Khoury.

A previous agreement to appoint a new board of directors for state-run TV Tele Liban hit stumbling blocks after Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun rejected several of the names suggested to him by Information Minister Walid al-Daouq.

Differences between the main components of the March 8 alliance also remain on the name of the person who will lead the Economic Social Council, An Nahar said.

According to the newspaper, Speaker Nabih Berri is backing the current head, Roger Nasnas, whose term has ended, while other March 8 leaders are throwing their support behind Charles Arbeed, the candidate proposed by President Michel Suleiman and a relative of Environment Minister Nazem al-Khoury.

A meeting held between Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati in Ain el-Tineh on Tuesday dealt with the appointment of Lebanese University faculty deans.

But both Berri and Miqati agreed to postpone the issue pending Education Minister Hassan Diab's return to Lebanon from abroad, An Nahar said.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that he would suggest during the cabinet session the announcement of Sidon a military zone to limit future security incidents in the city.

A dispute between Hizbullah and Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir on posters turned into a gunfight on Sunday, leaving three people dead


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