Report: Abu Faour and Taymour Jumblat in Riyadh Next Week over Cabinet Formula
Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour and Taymour Jumblat are likely to travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet with the head of the Saudi intelligence and ex-Premier Saad Hariri, a well-informed official said Saturday.
The official told As Safir daily that the meeting of Abu Faour and Jumblat with Prince Bandar bin Sultan and Hariri, who is also the head of al-Mustaqbal movement, would come amid a new proposal to give the March 14 alliance eight ministers in the new cabinet along with a ninth minister, who would also be part of the share of centrists.
Hariri is part of the March 14 coalition while Abu Faour is loyal to Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat who is a centrist.
The centrist bloc in the government includes ministers loyal to the president and the prime minister.
The official, who was not identified, said Jean Obeid could be the person representing both March 14 and the centrists in Premier-designate Tammam Salam's government.
The source added that the form and shape of the new cabinet would only be known after the visit of Abu Faour and Taymour Jumblat, who is Walid's son, to Saudi Arabia.
While the source did not provide details on Hizbullah and the March 8 alliance which insist on getting veto power in the cabinet, he said there were positive signs from the Gulf countries and the international community that there was no veto on granting Hizbullah portfolios.
The party has been widely criticized by the March 14 alliance and by countries backing the revolution against Syrian President Bashar Assad for its involvement in Syria's war.
Hizbullah fighters are among those backing Assad's armed forces.
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