Lebanon Set to Form Government With Hezbollah

Masked protestors wear fake explosive belts and hold a portrait of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan...

Masked protestors wear fake explosive belts and hold a portrait of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah during a demonstration in front of the UN offices in Beirut, in this Jan. 2009 file photo. Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri will announce a new national unity government to include Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in the next few days, politicians said on Saturday.

(Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty Images)

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri will announce a new national unity government to include Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in the next few days, politicians said on Saturday.

Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Hariri led his coalition, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, to victory in a June parliamentary election against Hezbollah and its allies.

Politicians from both sides said Hariri had now clinched a deal with the opposition on the new government's make-up.

A government acceptable to all main parties is seen as key to maintaining stability in a country facing sectarian and political tensions, as well as a huge debt burden.

"The government is as good as formed," member of parliament Okab Sakr, who is close to Hariri, told New TV station. "It's all about the final touches now and its formation will be completed this weekend."

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Other MPs from both camps made similar remarks with some saying it could take a two or three more days.

Leaders of the opposition, including Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, agreed to join the proposed government during a meeting on Friday night.

"Participants at the talks have agreed to forge ahead with the formation of the national unity government in accordance with the regulations that were agreed upon during the negotiations that had been conducted," Hezbollah said in a statement early on Saturday.

Hezbollah, which the United States still lists as a terrorist group, was part of the outgoing government.

A senior aide to Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun met Hariri later and relayed to him the opposition's decision and its acceptance of the portfolios offered to them by the prime minister-designate.

Hariri's spokesman Hani Hammoud described the meeting as very positive and said: "I expect the formation of the government soon."

But other sources said Hariri had not yet been given the names of Aoun's proposed ministers and expected the government to be ready by early next week at the latest.