The March 14 General Secretariat renewed on Wednesday its commitment to the values proposed by the March 14 forces to Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati, repeating its support to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

It said after its weekly meeting: “The STL is a central part of the Lebanese state’s commitment to protect its citizens and leaders of free thought from political assassination.”

Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday that he favored the participation of all parties in the cabinet without setting prior conditions on the shares of each side.

Following talks with President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace, Berri said that “all former opposition parties support the premier-designate.”

The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday expressed gratitude that the situation in Lebanon is fine despite complications and wished Premier-designate Najib Miqati success in forming the cabinet.

“We thank God that the situation in Lebanon is fine and we wish the PM-designate success in his mission to confront the current situation,” the bishops said in a statement read by Monsignor Youssef Toq.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati is expected to inform President Michel Suleiman about suggestions on the shape of the cabinet at a time when parties of the March 8 camp are competing over names and portfolios.

Baabda sources told al-Mustaqbal daily that Miqati would visit the presidential palace on Thursday. They said Suleiman is keen on seeing consensus between March 8 and 14 forces on the shape of the government.

Caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb criticized Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, saying "he is acting as though he is the president of the republic and the prime minister."

Harb said statements made by Aoun on Tuesday "indicated that he wants no one else but him in the Government."

Druze leader Walid Jumblat assured March 14 forces that Najib Miqati's would-be government will not and cannot stop the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

"Miqati's government is not willing to terminate the international tribunal because no one, except for the Security Council, can terminate it," Jumblat said in remarks published Wednesday by Al-Akhbar newspaper.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is reportedly seeking a grace period from the international community before issuing political verdicts on his cabinet.

Sources following up the consultations that Miqati is carrying out with March 14 officials told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Wednesday that the international community doesn’t object to giving Miqati “a grace period that would be a test on the extent of his willingness to avoid a clash” with the west.

Head of the international tribunal’s defense office Francois Roux has said that the indictment in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case will be unveiled soon.

“The indictment will see light in a few weeks,” Roux told An Nahar daily on the sidelines of a conference for lawyers from the Arab world to discuss the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati denied that he was trying to win allies from among the March 14 forces, saying he was only seeking with all possible means to form a national unity cabinet.

Miqati told An Nahar daily in remarks published Wednesday that his meetings with Phalange and Lebanese Forces leaders Amin Gemayel and Samir Geagea in addition to talks with Caretaker Minister Butros Harb were only aimed at “forming a cabinet that includes everybody.”

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday noted that the list of demands it had submitted to Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati last week deals with "a number of political, national and ethical constants."

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting under ex-PM Fouad Saniora, the bloc said it was waiting for a "clear stance" by the PM-designate.