Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman has postponed for a week talks on forming a new government which had been due to start on Monday, his office said.
Lebanese politicians had said the consultations on a new government could be delayed because of a summit in Damascus later on Monday where the leaders of Syria, Qatar and Turkey were due to discuss Lebanon's political crisis.
Hezbollah ministers and their allies brought down the government of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri last week over a dispute about imminent draft indictments from a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 killing of Rafik al-Hariri.
PHOTO CAPTION
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, left, meets with caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri,right, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011.
Reuters