Caretaker Transportation and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi stated on Friday that there have been no convincing justifications given over the delay in the government formation.

He told Voice of Lebanon radio: “It appears that the team charged with the forming the government does not trust its members … as if they are waging a battle over the distribution of portfolios.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has told a U.S. official that Lebanon was in need of hundreds of MiG-29 Russian fighter jets to “threaten Israel.”

In a WikiLeaks cable dated December 19, 2008, Geagea told U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Hale that Lebanese army pilots need a 10-year experience on the jets to confront Israel.

Negotiations on the formation of the new cabinet haven’t yet reached the stage of distribution of portfolios amid reports that Premier-designate Najib Miqati is suggesting that Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun get 10 ministers.

“Negotiations haven’t yet overcome the obstacle of distribution of shares,” An Nahar daily quoted sources as saying in remarks published Friday.

The National Struggle Front leader, MP Walid Jumblat, urged Lebanese officials to steer clear of regional conflicts and return to the dialogue table.

“It would be better to stay away from regional conflicts as much as possible and resume dialogue,” Jumblat told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday.

Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil unveiled that agreement has been reached between Premier-designate Najib Miqati and the March 8 forces to form a 30-member cabinet but stressed that the Free Patriotic Movement is insisting on forming a government made up of 32 ministers.

“There is an agreement on an initial 30-member government formula that allows us to move to the next stage,” Bassil told An Nahar daily in remarks published Thursday.

A final agreement on the cabinet lineup awaits a meeting between Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, a March 8 source said despite reports that Aoun continued to hold onto his demand for 11 cabinet ministers, including the interior ministry portfolio.

“The meeting between Sayyed Nasrallah and General Aoun hopefully will pave the way for the formation of a government,” the source told The Daily Star in remarks published Wednesday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed in a number of leaked U.S. Embassy cables from 2006 and 2009 published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Wednesday Lebanon’s need for funds after the July 2006 war.

A July 11, 2006, cable spoke of meeting between the MP and then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Feltman during which he told him about his July 7 visit to Saudi Arabia which he said was aimed at convincing newly crowned Saudi King Abdullah to finance the March 14 camp.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat voiced his concern over reports that the Mustaqbal movement was training Sunni militias in Beirut and Tripoli of some 15,000 fighters, said a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published in exclusively in Al-Akhbar newspaper on Tuesday.

The MP stated that MP Saad Hariri’s establishment of private security companies in Beirut and Tripoli is a sign that some individuals are providing him with bad advice, such as ISF chief Ashraf Rifi.

National Struggle Front leader Walid Jumblat has reportedly urged the U.S. to put more pressure on Syria, without allowing it to exploit the international changes for its own benefits.

According to a WikiLeaks cable dated February 20, 2005, carried by OTV, a meeting was held between MP Jumblat and former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison, in the presence of MP Marwan Hamadeh.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s speech on Wednesday presented positive possibilities that fundamental change will be introduced in Syria in favor of its people.

He said in a statement: “Should the Baath party decisions be implemented, then Syria’s national unity and internal stability will be fortified.”