Otherwise, no-one expects much from what is a government with a limited life - 9 month maximum. It is very unlikely, given the opposition veto powers in cabinet, that anything controversial will be proposed, let alone decided. Matters such as privatisation or an increase in the VAT rate, which were among the commitments given at the Paris III conference, are unlikely to see the light of day.

And what does the rest of the world make of the ministerial statement to which parliament gave its approval. Typical of the headlines in the western media were “Lebanon to pass law legitimising Hezbollah attacks on Israel”. Inaccurate, but not so far from the truth.  Undoubtedly Israel is unhappy with developments, and has made it clear that it will regard any attack by Hezbollah as sanctioned by the Lebanese government and as a result may retaliate against any target in the country. This would differ from its attitude in the 2006 war, which was clearly against Hezbollah rather that the country, although this did not prevent the death of some 1200 civilians and substantial damage to infrastructure.

Today the president starts an official visit to Damascus, where it is expected that there will be agreement on establishing diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria and the exchange of ambassadors. There are many other matters on the agenda and expectations of progress on some of them, notwithsnding the parliamentary majority’s reservations.

Following is a list of ministers making up Lebanon’s new cabinet:
Prime Minister: Fouad Saniora
Finance Ministry: Mohammed Shatah
Justice Ministry: Ibarahim Najjar
Social Affairs Ministry: Mario Aoun
Industry Ministry:Ghazi Zoaiter
Tourism Ministry: Elie Marouni
Culture Ministry: Tamam Salam
Environment Ministry: Tony Karam
Deputy Prime Minister : Issam abou Jamra
Defense Ministry: Elias Murr
Ministers of State: Wael Abou Faour, Nassib Lahoud, Jean Ogassapian, Ali Qanso, Khaled Qabani
Refugees Ministry: Raymond Audi
Administrative Reforms Ministry: Ibrahim Shamseddine
Economy and Trade Ministry: Mohammed Safadi
Interior and Municipalities Ministry: Ziad Baroud
Youth and Sport: Talal Arslan
Education Ministry: Bahia Hariri
Transport and Public Buildings Ministry: Ghazi Aridi
Foreign Affairs Ministry: Fawzi Salloukh
Energy and Water Ministry: Alain Taborian
Labor Ministry: Mohammed Fneish
Health Ministry: Mohammed Jawad Khalife
Agriculture Ministry: Elie Skaff
Telecommunications Ministry: Gebran Bassil
Information Ministry: Tareq Mitri

Now the president can leave for the Euro-Med conference in Paris tomorrow - he had been threatening not to attend if the government was not formed before he was due to leave. It might prove an interesting meeting, the attendees including Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and Turkish Prime Minister Ergodan. The latter is actively involved in indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel and Israel has indicated that it would like to bring Lebanon into the peace discussions. Of course, the biggest problem with regard to Israeli-Lebanon peace is the fate of the approximately 400,000 Palestinian refugees in the country. Most of these are 1948 refugees or their descendants and no one seriously expects that they are going to return to their homes in what is now and will remain the State of Israel. Equally, their permanent settlement and naturalisation in Lebanon is fraught with issues; since most are Sunni Muslims the fragile sectarian balance would be seriously changed and, publicly at least, no politician is prepared to accept this.

What does all this mean for Lebanon and the region? The election and swearing-in of the new president on Sunday evening was attended by, among others, the foreign ministers of Syria and Iran (who sat side by side), the Saudi, French and Italian foreign ministers and, of course the Ruler of Qatar and his prime minister, through whose efforts the compromise was reached. Also present was a US Congressional delegation of 6 people, and another, somewhat strange, attendee was the Turkish prime minister. We must remember, however, that Israel and Syria are at present conducting peace talks under Turkish auspices; could it be that Mr Erdogan was testing the waters on the possibility of bringing Lebanon into the peace talks?

It is impossible that the deal done in Doha could have materialised without the agreement of Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Undoubtably, all were concerned that the events in Lebanon could develop into a wider Sunni-Shia conflict in the Middle East, something which, it seems, none of them wants at this time.

If the Syrian/Israeli talks produce results it will be a blow for Hizbullah and Iran, but can only benefit Lebanon. Little is likely to happen until a change of Administration in Washington and we must hope and pray that Mr Bush does not decide to embark on any more ill-advised ventures in the region during his last months in office.

During today the opposition tented camp in downtown Beirut is being dismantled and Hizbullah say this will be completed by midnight. The Speaker has called parliament into session for Sunday to elect the consensus candidate, commander of the army Michel Suleiman, as the next president. No one has mentioned for many months that there is a need to amend the constitution before he can legally take up the office - it provides that any senior government employee, which includes army officers, cannot run for the presidency until at least two years have elapsed since their resignation or retirement from government service. Maybe the constitution will also be amended on Sunday.

There seems to be a mixture of relief and indifference among Lebanese at the results of the Doha agreement. Many are not convinced that it is a long term solution to Lebanon’s many political problems but for the immediate future calm and normality (whatever that means in Lebanon) may prevail. Perhaps there is hope to salvage something of the summer tourist season and revive the moribund businesses in the downtown area of Beirut.

Enter, again, the Arab League. Its Secretary General, Amr Moussa, has been shuttling to and from Beirut for months in an attempt to negotiate a solution to the political deadlock, but to no avail.  However, a Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Cairo last Sunday decided to appoint a ministerial committee, headed by the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al Thani. In 24 hours he achieved what no one else had been able to do - obtained an agreement on an immediate return to the status quo ante and pursuaded the political leaders to acompany him back to Doha for negotiations on the core issues - the election of a president, the formation of a national unity government and a new electoral law.

One major issue that does not seem to be on the agenda for the Doha talks is the international tribunal to try the alledged assassins of former prime minister, Rafic Hariri. This may well be another stumbling block along the way, but, for now, the outlook is brighter than it was a week ago.

Beirut airport re-opened last night and the port resumed work this morning. The main border crossing into Syria has also reopened and business is getting back to normal. Let us hope that the Doha talks yield real results.

In recent weeks, however, the supply has been better and cuts fewer. Quite why, no-one can say but it is a welcome relief from dependence on our stand-by generator. Everyone has to have an alternative to the main electricity supply and in all towns and cities privately owned neighbourhood generators will provide this service in return for a regular monthly payment. Others, like me, have their own generator, but with the cost of diesel fuel having increased by about 50% in the last month running costs have escalated and therefore the more reliable main supply is most welcome.

You may recall that in December 2006 the pro-Syrian opposition withdrew its five cabinet members, thus, in their eyes, rendering the government unconstitutional. However, the Prime Minister did not accept the resignations,  the ministers stayed at home but continued to collect their salaries, the government continued to function and most lawyers are of the opinion that the government is operating within the constitution.

There is to be an Arab League summit in Damascus at the end of this month. In keeping with protocol, the Syrian government had, by the end of last week, dispatched a minister to each member country to deliver an invitation to the Head of State. Except, of course to Lebanon, where there has been no Head of State since November 23 2007. A number of countries let it be known that their respective monarchs/presidents would not attend the summit if Lebanon was not invited, so a few days ago the resigned (pro-Syrian) Lebanese foreign minister turned up at his office in Beirut to receive a minister from Syria who delivered an invitation, said to be addressed to the Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora. Now, of course, there is an ongoing debate about who, if anyone, should attend. Some say boycott the summit, some say send a low level delegation and some say the Prime Minister should attend. Watch this space!