BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Lebanese Prime Minister designate Omar Karami Tuesday formed a new 30-member government, the first after the extension of President Emile Lahoud's mandate.
For the first time in Lebanon the Cabinet has two women ministers. One of them is Layla Soloh, the daughter of Lebanon's first post-independence prime minister Riad Soloh.
Three ministers retained their previous portfolios and seven had their portfolios changed.
The cabinet, from which politicians who opposed the extension of Lahoud's mandate by three years at Syria's behest were excluded, has 20 new ministers.
The key portfolios, notably the interior ministry, the defense and the foreign affairs, were given to Suleiman Franjieh, Abdel Rahim Murad and Mahmoud Hammoud, all close Syrian allies.
Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri resigned last week and declined to form the new government in protest against the extension of Lahoud's six-year mandate, which would have expired next month.
