Salam Says Political Problems should be Resolved Outside Cabinet as Fate of Session Unclear

Prime Minister Tammam Salam urged Lebanon’s bickering leaders to resolve their problems outside the cabinet after the Free Patriotic Movement insisted to resolve the crisis on the appointments of top security and military officials as a condition for attending a government session.

Salam has told officials who have lately contacted him that he does not reject the FPM's demands on the appointments. But he stressed that ministers “should head to the cabinet and resolve their political and sectarian problems outside the council of ministers.”

“The government belongs to the state and the people and not political parties and confessions,” Salam said, according to An Nahar daily published on Wednesday.

The FPM has been demanding the appointment of three officers – a Shiite, an Orthodox and a Catholic – in the military council.

Its request has left the cabinet paralyzed, which convened in December for the first time since its last session in September.

By Wednesday, it was not clear if the FPM's two ministers would attend the cabinet session the next day.

According to Speaker Nabih Berri, the session will be held.

But Berri hinted to his visitors that the appointments, which are not on the cabinet's agenda, are most likely not to take place on Thursday.