2 Hezbollah ministers named in Lebanon

Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri handed in a new national unity government list to President Michel Suleiman on Monday that includes two ministers from the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, officials said.

Hariri was meeting Suleiman at the presidential palace near Beirut. An official announcement of the 30-member cabinet was expected shortly.

Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Hariri led his coalition, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, to victory in a June parliamentary election against Hezbollah and its allies.

A government acceptable to all main parties is seen as key to maintaining stability in a country facing sectarian and political tensions, as well as a huge debt burden.

Hariri has spent more than four months trying to broker a deal with the opposition to join a unity cabinet. A warming of ties between the two sides' main backers Syria and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks helped ease the rift in Beirut and led eventually to a power-sharing agreement.

The new 30-minister cabinet includes 15 ministers from Hariri's coalition, 10 from the opposition including two Hezbollah ministers, and five, including the key interior and defense portfolios, were nominated by President Suleiman.

Incumbents Ziad Baroud and Elias al-Murr, loyal to the president, kept their interior and defense portfolios, while new foreign and finance ministers were expected to be named, the officials said.

Raya al-Hassan was set to be appointed finance minister, responsible for managing Lebanon's public debt burden, while retired university professor Ali al-Shami was set to be named foreign minister, they said.