Pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Thursday quoted high-ranking French sources as saying that the indictment in the 2005 assassination of former PM Rrafik Hariri is likely to be issued “within the coming 10 days.”

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is reportedly poised to indict Hizbullah members in the Hariri murder.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati said the government was "not near-birth," uncovering that he favors a 24-strong Cabinet that would include non-provocative figures.

"The birth of the government is not in the coming 24 or 48 hours," Miqati said in an interview published Thursday by pan-Arab Al-Hayat daily.

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration was the target of harsh criticism in Congress Wednesday for not doing enough to support "pro-democracy forces" in Lebanon and Egypt.

"In both Egypt and Lebanon, we have failed to effectively leverage U.S. assistance in support of peaceful, pro-democracy forces and to help build strong, accountable, independent, democratic institutions as a bulwark against the instability that is now spreading throughout much of the region," said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen at a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee she heads.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and visiting Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun held talks Wednesday on the situation in Lebanon and the ongoing efforts to form a new Lebanese government, Syria's state-run news agency SANA reported.

Talks also tackled "the latest developments in the Arab and regional arenas," SANA said.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem stated on Wednesday that the process of forming a national unity government in Lebanon has reached its final stage, stressing his country’s keenness on Lebanon achieving national unity.

He said before a delegation of Kuwaiti journalists: “Stability in Lebanon lies in a national unity government that includes all segments of the society, which is what Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is aiming to achieve.”

Caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb stated on Wednesday that the March 14 camp will become the opposition in Lebanon should President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati approve the formation of a one-sided government.

He told Tele Liban: “Should they choose against such a decision, then they should find a way to establish a national unity government.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on Wednesday said from Syria that it's time to return to “our roots and get out of isolation.”

“Our goal is to return to our environment, to our roots,” he told FPM supporters after taking part in a mass marking St. Maroun Day in Brad, Aleppo.

Beirut Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar urged the Lebanese on Wednesday to consolidate the state because only a strong state is capable of protecting them.

In his sermon at St. Maroun church in Gemmayze, Matar said: “A strong, capable and just state remains the sole protector of Lebanon and the Lebanese.”

A battle is raging over key portfolios in the new government -- most notably the interior, defense and justice ministries.

An-Nahar newspaper on Wednesday quoted sources following up on the issue of Cabinet formation as saying that Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is seeking to create a one-sided, 24-strong government after the March 14 coalition announced it will not participate.

Egypt accused Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of “walking in the footsteps of his mentor,” Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

“They all want to ignite the region,” Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Husam Zaki told the Saudi al-Watan daily about Nasrallah and Khamenei.