Report: Abou Faour to Meet Hariri in Saudi Arabia

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour is expected to hold talks with al-Mustaqbal Movement leader former Prime Minister Saad Hariri as part of consultations over the formation of the new cabinet.

Sources told the pan-Arab daily al—Hayat on Monday that Abou Faour, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, will meet with Hariri on the name of the PM-designate.

Abou Faour, who is loyal to centrist Progressive Social Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, headed to Jeddah on Sunday.

The newspaper said that the minister will also hold talks with senior Saudi officials to discuss the delicate situation in Lebanon.

The report comes ahead of the April 5-6 binding consultations between President Michel Suleiman and the parliamentary blocs and independents on the name of the PM-designate after Prime Minister Najib Miqati resigned on March 22.

On Sunday, al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora returned to Lebanon after talks with Hariri in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Hariri headed a cabinet in 2009, until its collapse in 2011 after March 8 alliance ministers withdrew from his national unity government.

Jumblat's 12-member National Struggle Front parliamentary bloc, along with the March 8 majority led by Hizbullah, brought Miqati to the premiership.