By Lin Noueihed  BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s prime minister formed a new government on Tuesday, boosting chances that a general election can be held on time in line with demands by the international community and anti-Syrian opposition.  In a key concession to the opposition after seven weeks of deadlock, Najib Mikati, a wealthy businessman with close ties to Lebanon’s long-time political master Syria, said he would immediately seek the removal of pro-Syrian security chiefs. Comprising largely businessmen and technocrats, Mikati’s 14-member cabinet must now win a confidence vote in parliament and draft and steer through the assembly an electoral law, all within 10 days, if the polls are to be held by the end of May.

PARIS (AFP) – Lebanon’s exiled Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun told AFP in an interview that he would be ready to assume his country’s presidency should national consensus emerge after May elections. “The job that goes to the Christians (in the Lebanese political system) is that of president of the Republic,” he told AFP. “If there is a national consensus, I will assume my responsibilities at that time,” he added. “Without such a consensus, I will not stand as a candidate.” Aoun, 70, is one of the key figures of the Lebanese opposition leading the campaign seeking to end Syria’s political and military dominance of the country.

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer  VATICAN CITY – Black smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel chimney again Tuesday as the scarlet-robed cardinals inside failed in two more ballots to elect a new pope to build on John Paul II’s legacy and heal deep rifts within the Roman Catholic Church. Several thousand pilgrims and tourists who packed St. Peter’s Square to stare at the slender stovepipe jutting from the chapel’s brown tiled rooftop gasped when the smoke appeared just before noon. The 115 voting cardinals sequestered in the chapel were to break for lunch and reconvene in the afternoon for the day’s final session of secret balloting. White smoke