Walid Jumblat has said many obstacles have been cleared from Premier-Designate Fouad Seniora's way, enabling him to form the new government fairly soon "without me and Gen. Aoun kissing each other." "I have no veto against Gen. Aoun taking the justice ministry…We have done what's required from us to facilitate the formation of the new government," Jumblat was quoted by visitors as having said at his palatial mansion of Mukhtara Friday, An Nahar reported on Saturday.

Asked about media reports that he would be visiting the General at his Rabieh residence shortly, Jumblat quipped "the government can be formed without us kissing each other," according to An Nahar.

Gen. Aoun was asked the same question about an imminent meeting with the Druze chieftain. "The doors of Rabieh are open to all, including Walid Jumblat," the General said.

Aoun had earlier delegated his bloc legislator Nabil Nicholas to meet with Saad Hariri at the Koreitem mansion. Nicholas later told the NBN Beirut TV network that the justice portfolio in the new cabinet will go to Aoun's Reform and Change bloc in parliament.

With Aoun's partnership in the new cabinet seemingly resolved, Seniora and Saad Hariri have shifted the focus on Hizbullah and Speaker Berri's Amal, the standard-bearers of Lebanon's Shiite community who are insisting on having a Shiite of their choice for foreign minister.

"Contacts are still underway. They haven't reached a dead-end and there is no breakthrough by the same token," a Hizbullah official said after an overnight meeting Saad Hariri held with Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah upon returning from Saudi Arabia.

The official said Nasrallah was convinced that the United Sates was vetoing a Shiite foreign minister for Lebanon chosen by the Hizbullah-Amal alliance. He was referring to meetings held with Seniora, Gen. Aoun, Jumblat and Hariri in the past 24 hours by visiting U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East affairs Elizabeth Dibble.

Dibble told reporters after her meeting with Hariri at Koreitem Friday that the basic message she had heard during her two-day talks in Lebanon was the need to form the new government quickly, which the United States and the international community support. She said the U.S. hopes the new government would be made up of 'credible' persons.

Seniora remained tight-lipped in the meantime about a deadline for announcing his new cabinet. An Nahar quoted Seniora's associates as saying the government would not be born on Saturday or Sunday, but would probably be formed early next week. - Naharnet