Lebanon's premier-designate, Najib Mikati, who is backed by the Hezbollah-led camp, has wrapped up consultations on forming a new government set to be boycotted by his Sunni rival, Saad Hariri.
After two days of talks with parliamentary blocs, Mikati told reporters he would report back to President Michel Sleiman on Saturday before getting down to the business of choosing his ministers.
An official close to Mikati said the billionaire businessman would probably form a government of technocrats and politicians, given the refusal of Hariri's Western-backed coalition to join the new administration.
"It is now clear that Hariri's coalition does not want to join the government," the official, who requested anonymity, said on Friday.
Mikati was appointed earlier this week after the Shi'ite movement Hezbollah toppled Hariri's cabinet because of a dispute over a UN-backed probe into the 2005 murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Saad's father.
The militant party, backed by Syria and Iran and blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington, brought down Hariri's unity government over his refusal to cut ties with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).
The tribunal is expected to implicate Hezbollah members in Rafiq Hariri's assassination.
The Shi'ite militant party has warned against such a scenario and accuses the STL of being under the control of the US and Israel, with whom it fought a devastating 2006 war.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday said the tribunal would continue its work and urged Lebanon's rival factions to restore stability.
Hariri's coalition has sought a commitment from Mikati not to disavow the Netherlands-based STL, but Mikati said dialogue was the only way to resolve the dispute.
"I have not and will not commit in writing to any demands," he said. "I have come to the conclusion that what unites the Lebanese is much greater than what divides them."
He said he had anticipated the conditions set by Hariri's coalition, while Hezbollah and his allies had also made demands. "That's why my centrist position is important," he said.
Mikati, who has warm ties with Syria and Saudi Arabia, on Friday was meeting with diplomats, including the French and Saudi ambassadors.
The prime minister-designate also encouraged regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which has backed Hariri, to resume mediation efforts between Lebanon's rival camps, in an interview broadcast on Friday on Al-Arabiya television.
Mikati likened Lebanon to a stray child and Saudi Arabia as its angry but devoted parent. "Do not believe that Saudi Arabia could pull its hand away from Lebanon," he said.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said earlier this month Riyadh had abandoned its mediation efforts, after the failure of a joint bid by King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to find a compromise.
The US has expressed concern Mikati's appointment could signal a shift in the balance of power towards Syria and Iran.
But Mikati has worked hard to position himself as a centrist. On Thursday, he met the US ambassador to Lebanon to underline his commitment to their countries' ties.
He said on Al-Arabiya TV he called on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to "judge" the new Lebanese government only "after you see what decisions it will take".
Mikati is seen as likely to form his government quickly, given it would not be a unity cabinet.
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