Lebanese Prime Minister-designate hopes for new government after President returns

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri on Tuesday said he hoped a new government would be formed after President Michel Aoun returns from a trip abroad.

"There are concessions from all sides, including the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM)," Hariri told reporters. "We hope for the formation of a government after the return of the president from Yerevan."

The rivalry between the two leading Christian parties - the FPM, allied to the Shi'ite Islamist Hezbollah movement, and the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces (LF) is widely seen as the main obstacle to a deal, more than five months after national elections.