The sources confirmed remarks made on Friday by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who said his party was not asking for guarantees on its arms or the STL.

Concerning the cabinet’s formation, Phalange party head Amine Gemayel accused on Tuesday the opposition of obstructing the process, adding that the March 14 coalition remained open to all parties.

Following talks with French MP Olivier Gardi, Gemayel endorsed partnership in the next government and urged the opposition to facilitate Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s task “so as to restore the role of the state’s institutions.”

Gemayel, who rejected granting the minority veto power, called on the parliamentary majority to unilaterally form the cabinet if they failed to reach an agreement on its structure with opposition groups.

“If a national unity cabinet is unattainable, we should take responsibility for the formation process in accordance with the results of the [June 7] parliamentary elections,” he said.

The phalange leader added that such a step would stabilize the country’s political situation and promote democracy.

“The democratic process would straighten when a majority rules and a minority opposes,” Gemayel said.

Commenting on the cabinet’s formation, Gardi acknowledged the difficulty of Hariri’s task, adding that the process “would be facilitated if the parliamentary majority was respected.”

Tackling the security situation in south Lebanon, Gemayel warned that last week’s incidents would affect Lebanon’s relations with the international community and the United Nations Security Council.

Over the weekend, 14 peacekeepers operating as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured when protestors confronted them near the southern village of Khirbit Silim. Approximately 100 residents attempted to impede investigation into the explosions last week of a suspected arms cache.

Gemayel underscored that Lebanon’s political and economic progress as well as its security depended on the stability of the country’s southern region.

Also, Giradi stressed that tensions in the Middle East region threatened Lebanon’s future, adding that the country’s situation could not be separated from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as developments in Syria and Iran.
Tackling obstacles facing the government’s formation and its timing, sources in the March 14 coalition as well as Hizbullah told Al-Rai newspaper in a report published on Tuesday that the agreement on the cabinet’s structure may be delayed.

The new cabinet will not be formed soon and the delay may be stretched till after the end of the summer season, a source close to Hizbullah told Al-Rai.

The source said Hizbullah wanted real guarantees in the upcoming cabinet particularly when it comes to voting on key decisions such as administrative appointments and the future electoral law.

But the party refrained from addressing the blocking third vote issue publicly to “avoid provocations,” the source said.

Tackling the issue of Hizbullah’s weapons, the source said the “resistance’s arms” were not part of the ongoing deliberations on the cabinet’s formation and “had nothing to do with giving guarantees to Hizbullah.”

Similarly, a source close to the March 14 coalition told the Al-Rai that Lebanon was heading toward “a serious political crisis” due to the delay in the cabinet’s formation.

The source added that Hizbullah wanted no guarantees on the party’s arms or the STL since holding veto power in the next government would ensure the party control over key decisions regarding economic, political and social issues.

Meanwhile, President Michel Sleiman said on Tuesday that “things were moving in the right direction,” adding that the Lebanese were “taking matters in their own hands without pressure and external influence.”

After a meeting with caretaker Deputy Premier Issam Abou Jamra, Sleiman condemned the ongoing Israeli violations of Lebanese territories, adding that the continued occupation of the Kfar Shuba Hills and Shebaa Farms as well as Israel’s recently uncovered spy networks were “provocative to Lebanon.”

Sleiman, who urged the international community to put an end to those violations, called for cooperation between the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL.

Sleiman said the safety of peacekeepers guarantees the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, without any amendments.

In other developments, Frederick Hoff, assistant of the United States president’s special envoy to the Middle East Georges Mitchell, held talks with Hariri and caretaker Premier Fouad Siniora on Tuesday.