Report: Contacts Ongoing between Berri, Moqbel, Qahwaji to Resolve Military Appointments Dispute

Cabinet is expected to hold a new session after two weeks due to Prime Minister Tammam Salam's foreign commitments, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

It said that in the meantime, contacts are being held between Speaker Nabih Berri, Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, and Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji over the divisive issue of the military appointments.

They are focusing on the appointment of three generals in the military council.

Their success would ensure that quorum is met at the next cabinet session, said An Nahar.

The Free Patriotic Movement and its ally Hizbullah had boycotted a government meeting on Thursday due to the dispute over the military appointments.

Despite their boycott and the absence of the Marada Movement minister, the cabinet convened and approved several non-controversial decrees.

Three military council posts, reserved for a Shiite, a Greek Orthodox and a Catholic, have been vacant for the past two years.

The FPM is demanding the appointment of officers to fill the posts. Its conditions have paralyzed the government, which has so far only met three times since September last year.