A high-ranking Republican legislator has said that the U.S. Congress should cut off funding for the Lebanese army if Hizbullah plays “even a minor role” in Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s government.

Representative Steve Chabot of Ohio, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, told The Daily Star in an interview published Friday that Congress should not donate U.S. taxpayer money to Lebanon if the assistance winds up under Hizbullah’s control.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati will launch intense consultations with Lebanese officials on Thursday in an effort to break the impasse on the cabinet formation process, An Nahar daily said.

The newspaper said that talks between Miqati and Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday paved way for a series of meetings that the premier-designate is scheduled to hold with officials involved in the formation of the government.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati has noted that “the political, economic and social challenges facing our country, in addition to the dangerous developments in the region, require the formation of a balanced cabinet in which no group would have the upper hand over the other participating parties.”

“From the time I was designated to form the cabinet, we had decided, the president and I, to abide by the provisions of the Constitution, which defines the duties of each branch of government,” Miqati told his visitors Wednesday.

The cabinet would be announced within days, Najib Miqati’s circles said, stressing that the premier-designate received support from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The 30-member cabinet line-up would include politicians, technocrats and independents, the circles told An Nahar daily in remarks published Sunday.

French Ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton stated on Saturday that he is certain that the Lebanese government will be formed soon, revealing that France and the international community will compare the ministerial statement of Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati’s government to that of caretaker Premier Saad Hariri’s Cabinet.

The French official stressed the need for the new government to cooperate with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, noting that Hizbullah is in fact cooperating with the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri despite its calls for the Lebanese not to cooperate with it.

A European source revealed that European nations have received an explanation from France on the current governmental situation in Lebanon where they were informed of how caretaker Prime Minister was replaced by Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati, revealed the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat Sunday.

The manner in which Hariri was replaced has created an imbalance in power in Lebanon that had been established by the Taif Accord and the Doha agreement, “which set the rules of the political game in Lebanon for a while.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stated on Wednesday that weapons possession outside the authority of the state is not “eternal.”

He made his statements after holding talks with outgoing Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir two hours before the Synod of Maronite Bishops’ retreat to elect his successor.

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated that the country’s defense strategy was settled in the policy statement of Caretaker PM Saad Hariri’s cabinet when it stressed the army-people-resistance formula.

In remarks to As Safir daily published Tuesday, Berri said the formula remains unchanged despite Hariri’s rejection to support it.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat accused the March 14 forces of taking the country into a “war of civilizations,” saying that President Michel Suleiman isn’t an ally when it comes to government formation or parliamentary elections.

In remarks to al-Akhbar daily, Jumblat described his relations with the March 8 forces, including Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, as based on an alliance.

Saturday’s ceremony honoring outgoing Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir garnered the majority of the political sides in Lebanon with the noted absence of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.

The ceremony was marked by the withdrawal of FPM ministers Jebran Bassil and Fadi Abboud, as well as MP Alain Aoun, because Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea was seated in the front row along with ministers from his bloc.