(Signed) Fuad Siniora

We congratulate Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the members of his Cabinet on their appointment.

Japan welcomes the formation of the Siniora Government in Lebanon on 19 July.

Consider this. The United States and France, which have taken the West s lead on Lebanon, have both confirmed the democratic and constitutional nature of the Siniora government.

BERLIN Fuad Siniora, Lebanon s former prime minister, is a thoughtful man with deep experience in Middle Eastern politics.

On 19 September, Prime Minister Siniora presented his Government's plans for political, economic and institutional reforms to the core group ministerial meeting on Lebanon in New York.

Already the 200,000 member Federation of Labour Unions has joined the opposition bandwagon, and Siniora s proposals will further fuel grassroots populist nationalism.

Yet covert support from Israel, America, and the Saudis for Abbas and Siniora does little to help them in their domestic battles.

Prime Minister Siniora's Government has been working to formulate a financial and economic plan that will be the subject of the next meeting of the Core Group of countries, which have offered their support for Lebanon's various reform initiatives.

Nasrallah in his latest media outing gave Siniora 10 days before an anti government plan is implemented, a plan that reportedly does not have the approval of his buddies in the opposition.

Sanyruah was too inviting for the Americans they thought that he would do in Lebanon what Maliki failed to do in Iraq to impose national will against militias and resistance groups anywhere in the region.

The Siniora government and the opposition are likely to reach a compromise within the next few months, probably on the basis of some variant of Arab League proposals.

As Lebanon faces many difficult challenges that will require delicate handling, we hope that Prime Minister Siniora and his Government will be able to exert leadership and set about addressing the many problems at hand as soon as possible.

Hours earlier, the vice president of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Kabalan said he conveyed a message to Saniora that removing Shqeir would be viewed as an unprecedented violation that will lead to undesired repercussions.

On 28 June, Nabih Berri was re elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly and Fuad Siniora, former Minister of Finance, was designated Prime Minister. Two days ago, Mr. Siniora announced agreement on the membership of the Cabinet, which will be subject to a vote of confidence in parliament early next week.

On US foreign policy, President Bush warned that he would only talk to Iran if it suspended uranium enrichment and bring Syria on board if it stops funding the opposition in Lebanon, extends support to the Lebanese government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and provides economic help to Iraq.