Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati on Tuesday was set to form a March 8-dominated government after talks with March 14 leaders on Cabinet participation collapsed.

An official working with Miqati told Agence France Presse the PM-designate "hopes to finalize his consultations and form the government this week."

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel announced on Monday that the negotiations over the formation of a new government have reached a dead end, "but our hand is still extended to the other camp."

He said during a press conference: "Since the start of the crisis, we have extended our hand to all sides and we have given Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati an opportunity to form a government of national partnership."

Former Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh has said that the dispute among Lebanon’s politicians lies on southern Lebanon and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“Some believe that southern Lebanon should remain alive to confront Israel in the name of the Arab group as long as no solution has been yet reached on the Arab-Israeli conflict,” Salameh told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in an interview published Monday.

A dispute between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun over the distribution of Cabinet posts may delay the formation of a new government.

Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is close to the Hizbullah-led March 8 camp, on Monday quoted well-informed sources as saying that government formation hit a snag after a "conflict" broke out between Suleiman and Aoun over the interior ministry portfolio.

Speaker Nabih Berri arrived in Qatar Sunday to take part in the 17th Conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union which will be held in Doha on Monday and Tuesday.

The house speaker was accompanied by MPs Nicola Fattoush, Michel Moussa and Hagop Pakradounian.

The March 14 camp is still awaiting Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati’s response to its demands on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and arms possession in Lebanon and it has therefore not yet reached a final position on whether it will participate in the new Cabinet.

Miqati’s sources told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat Sunday that a “calm” dialogue is underway with the camp away from the media spotlight despite some escalatory statements being issued by some members of the coalition.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati’s mission to form a new government is still ongoing 12 days after the start of the consultations, with informed sources telling the Syrian al-Watan newspaper that the Cabinet is most likely to be formed between February 16 and 18, at the latest.

The pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Sunday that the efforts are likely to last a long time seeing as the sides that nominated Miqati have been raising the roof of their demands and conditions.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati sent a message to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, Miqati’s advisor Joe Issa al-Khoury told reporters in Bkirki on Friday.

Following talks with Sfeir, al-Khoury refused to unveil details of the message that he delivered to the patriarch.

Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel threw the ball of the cabinet formation process in the March 8 court saying the alliance should facilitate the mission of Premier-designate Najib Miqati.

In his turn, Miqati should make proposals that lead to partnership and consensus on how to deal with controversial issues, Gemayel told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday.

Marada movement leader Suleiman Franjieh has stressed he would participate in the cabinet only if he gets two portfolios and said the country needs “tough men” and not technocrats.

“If they don’t give me (2 portfolios) I will say thank you and won’t participate,” in the government, Franjieh told Marcel Ghanem’s Kalam al-Nass talk show on LBC TV network.