By Hussein Abdallah, Daily star. BEIRUT: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora paid a number of customary visits on Thursday, one day ahead of the mandatory parliamentary consultations that will precede the formation of Lebanon’s new cabinet. Siniora met former premiers Omar Karami, Salim Hoss, Najib Mikati, Rasheed Solh, Amine Hafez and Michel Aoun. After a 45-minute meeting Aoun, who is also the leader of the opposition Free Patriotic Movement, Siniora told reporters that the talks were positive. Aoun became Lebanon’s only Christian prime minister in 1988 after he was asked by former President Amine Gemayel to head an interim government as a result of the Parliament’s failure to meet and elect a new president at the end of Gemayel’s term.
Siniora also contacted Muslim and Christian spiritual leaders on Thursday in advance of the consultations that are due to start on Friday afternoon. The next cabinet will include 16 ministers for the parliamentary majority, 11 for the opposition and three for the president. In a statement on Thursday, the opposition said that the Sunni opposition in Beirut should be represented by a minister in the new cabinet. "The Sunni opposition in Beirut should be represented as it is not acceptable to cross out a big portion of the capital just because one party has managed to monopolize Beirut’s seats in Parliament as a result of an unfair electoral law," the statement said, referring to parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri’s sweeping victory in Beirut in the 2005 elections.
BEIRUT – For three consecutive seasons tourism revenue, once Lebanon’s lifeblood, was reduced to a trickle by violence and political uncertainty. Reservations have begun pouring into this land of sun, sea and mountains, and a bumper tourism season is predicted after years of instability. There was a collective sigh of relief as calm returned last week after Lebanese leaders came to an agreement in Qatar that ended a long-running political crisis. "The ink on the Doha agreement wasn’t dry yet and the phones were ringing off the hook. From the Gulf, from 
By Yara Bayoumy 
Lebanon’s new President, Michel Suleiman, has arrived at the presidential palace to begin his first full day in office. A military band played the national anthem as Suleiman, who headed the army for a decade, walked on a red carpet into the Baabda Palace which has been empty since Previous President Emile Lahoud left office. Army cannons fired 21 shots to salute Suleiman, 59, as a brass band played Lebanon’s national anthem. Dozens of his staff members erupted into applause. After surveying the republican guard and listening to the national anthem, a smiling Sleiman took his seat in the presidential chair. Earlier Monday, Suleiman bid farewell at Beirut’s airport to the emir of Qatar, who brokered a deal among Lebanese politicians last week which led to the election. Parliament had failed to elect a new president 19 times in the past six months. "I call on you all, people and politicians, for a new beginning," Suleiman said after he was sworn in Sunday. "Let us be united." He set to work immediately, scheduling consultations with lawmakers on Wednesday to begin forming a new governent, an official in the president’s office said on condition of anonymity pending a formal statement. Once parliamentary leaders name a new prime minister, that person would then present a Cabinet lineup for the president’s approval. The cabinet then needs to draft a policy statement to present to parliament for a vote of confidence. The majority is expected to choose the prime minister from its ranks. Saniora or majority coalition leader Saad Hariri are among those mentioned in the media as candidates. Siniora said earlier that he did not want to head the next cabinet, but acknowledged that the parliamentary majority had the final say on this issue. Cabinet posts will be distributed according to the Doha agreement: 16 for the majority, 11 for the opposition and three for the president, who heads the cabinet. The group must also respect an equal split between Christians and Muslims, as required under Lebanon’s power-sharing formula.
US 
In another event on Monday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his group wasn’t seeking to control Lebanon or impose its views, in a speech Monday marking the eighth anniversary of Israel’s pullout from the south of the country."Hezbollah does not want power over Lebanon, nor does it want to control Lebanon or govern the country," Nasrallah said via video link to tens of thousands of supporters gathered in his stronghold in southern Beirut. "For we believe that Lebanon is a special, pluralistic country. The existence of this country only comes about through coexistence, and this is what we are demanding," said the leader of the militant Shiite group. Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Monday that Lebanese prisoners held in Israel jails would soon return home. "Samir Kantar and his brothers will soon be home among their families," Nasrallah said during a speech to commemorate the eighth anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon on May 2000. Releasing the prisoners is our duty and it is our holy mission," Nasarllah said without providing any further details. A Lebanese official close to the negotiations said earlier that another prisoner, Nessim Nisr, was expected to be released soon. He did not give further details. I reaffirm the Doha agreement clause that prevents the use of arms to attain political goals," Nasrallah said. He has also added, "The resistance’s arms are to fight the enemy, liberate lands and prisoners, and defend Lebanon and nothing else," he pledged, referring to his Shiite group’s enmity with Israel which pulled out of south Lebanon in 2000. Nasrallah also ruled out the state’s weaponry being used to settle domestic accounts. "The government’s arms or those of the army or armed forces are to defend the nation, the people and their rights, the government, and to maintain security," Nasrallah said. "The government’s arms cannot be used to settle accounts with a political opponent. The government’s arms cannot be used to target the resistance and its arms," he added. "All arms must remain in the service of the goal they were created for," Nasrallah said. Nasrallah spoke to a crowd of tens of thousands the day after army chief Michel Sleiman was elected Lebanon’s president, ending a long-running political crisis that left the country without a head of state since late November.
Lebanon’s Parliemanet elected army chief General Michel Suleiman as the country’s 12th president, filling a post left vacant for six months by a political crisis that threatened a new civil war. He was elected with a total of 118 votes and 6 blank copies. He won 118 votes of the 127 living members of the legislature on Sunday. Six cast blank ballots and one voted for slain ex-premier Rafiq Hariri and several MPs killed in Lebanon since 2005. One MP also voted for former MP Jean Obeid and another voted for majority MP Nassib Lahoud. After Suleiman was sworn in, the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora resigned in line with the Constitution but will stay on in a caretaker capacity. Suleiman arrived at Parliament shortly after the election accompanied by Speaker Nabih Berri, who left the Parliament building after the vote and returned with the newly elected president in line with protocol. Lebanon’s newly-elected President Michel Suleiman took his oath of office. "I pledge to respect and protect Lebanon’s independence, sovereignty and its constitution," Suleiman, who was greeted with heavy applause from lawmakers and guests, said.President Michel Suleiman’s inauguration speech was very positive. After taking the presidential oath, Suleiman delivered an inaugural address that dealth with several contentious issues. Previous addresses of this sort have tended to be vague, but this one was both comprehensive and specific in detailing the numerous daunting challenges facing this country. It was also forthright in acknowledging the issues that have recently divided Lebanon’s political parties. Perhaps most importantly, the new president clearly indicated – by both his choice of words and his tone of voice – that he intends to take charge of the reconciliation process. In short, Suleiman’s term in office has the potential to be the most important Lebanon has ever seen. The country has just passed through a long moment of high drama and mortal peril, and he will preside over a transition to the next phase. How he does so will help to determine what that phase looks like – and so whether Lebanon can begin at last to provide all of its citizens with the homeland they deserve. Tackling relations with neighbouring Syria, one of the many challenges his presidency will face, Suleiman called for the establishment of formal diplomatic links with Damascus. "We look strongly to brotherly ties between Lebanon and Syria in the context of mutual respect of the sovereignty and borders of each country and diplomatic ties which will bring good for both of them," the new president declared. "Let us unite… and work towards a solid reconciliation," the former army chief said after being sworn in before lawmakers. "We have paid dearly for our national unity. Let us preserve it hand-in-hand." "I call upon all of you, politicians and citizens, to start a new phase called Lebanon and the Lebanese… in order to achieve the interests of the nation," he said. He also added 
The vote had been postponed 19 times because of the crisis. It defuses a conflict that has stoked sectarian tensions, paralyzed government and battered the economy. Parliament has not met for more than a year and a half. Sunday’s vote was attended by Qatar’s emir and his prime minister, — the driving force behind the Doha agreement — It was also attended by the Prime minister of Turkey and a host of foreign ministers including those of arch-rivals Syria and Saudi Arabia, Foreign Minister from France, Spain, Iran, Italy, Turkey, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuweit, Jordan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates. A U.S. delegation of congressmen 
Daily star BEIRUT: As municipality and Sukleen workers removed the remaining concrete barriers and swept the streets in Beirut Central District (BCD), restaurant and shop owners in this fancy commercial area slowly opened their business Thursday. The opposition decision to end the 18-month sit-in near the Grand Serail brought a near immediate boost to the private sector. Stocks in the Beirut bourse climbed to record levels for the second day in a row on Thursday. Tour operators said they already expected Arab tourists to flock Lebanon in big numbers this summer. But for many business owners in the BCD, the problems have just started. "Don’t expect all restaurants to resume operations any time soon. Many of these restaurant owners cannot afford to open their doors for customers," Paul Aryss, the head of the Restaurant Owners Association, told The Daily Star. Aryss said around 30 to 40 restaurants have apparently decided to stay closed this summer because the financial losses they incurred during the 18-month sit-in have been quite heavy. There are a little more than 100 restaurants in the BCD. 
